Falling Apart

I am falling apart! I went in for my left leg numbness and by lower back hurting. They found I have a bulged disk and have me going to physical therapy (which I am still waiting for!). Now something is wrong with my right hip, a pinched nerve, something. It is so uncomfortable that I can never get in a good position for sleep, sitting hurts, standing too long is uncomfortable, blah blah. So, I go in on Monday to see what this new thing is! It shoots all the way down my right leg and into my toes and even makes my toes numb at times. The crappy part is that I have lost 15 lbs, and I exercise atleast 3 times a week, but am working up to going 4 times (hopefully). I should be feeling better and not falling apart! What gives?

I'll update after my appointment on Wednesday and see what the problem is.

Sad times

I am missing my family and friends in VA so much lately! I have met some great ladies here, and they are very nice, but I just don't feel like I click with them. I feel like an outsider and I am just not good at making new friends. I had my old friends back in VA and we "got" each other and could pick up where we left off in an instant! I don't want to feel like I have to work to make friends, it should be effortless if it is true .. right? Although we are happy here, and we do like living in Colorado, sometimes I wish we were back in VA. Sometimes I wish we had never uprooted the family and taken this journey of unknown outcome across the country to a foreign place where we do not know anyone. Sometimes I wish we were more cowardly and stayed set in our ways and settled in the home we had established .. that we loved so much. I am just sad. Sad that I cannot go out with my girlfriends back home or go to their house where they understand my child and love him for who he is. I don't want to start all over! Maybe that is just me babbling because I am feeling down. I have been here for 5 months and I had met that "true" kind of friend, Natalie, and then she had to move! Sometimes I get so sick of being in this life of moving and having those you love move. I know we chose it, but I am entitled to be sad about it sometimes. It is a hard life. It does not get any easier and sometimes I just need it to be. Mike leaves again tomorrow for a week. So it will just be us here .. alone. These are times where I miss when Mike and Allen had duty on the same day and Christy and I would have a slumber party, yelling at the kids and all! Or going over to Lori's and staying for hours when I only intended a short visit. When my mom would drop by because she was down the street at the doctor's office and wanted to see me and the kids. Sometimes, I just want to go home to what is familiar.

Weddings are Over!

So this past week we have been in VA for my sister Jamie's wedding. It was beautiful! I am glad it is over, they are happy and moving on with their lives and now I can talk to her about more than which flower I think is prettier ... which dress is better suited for the bridesmaids ... how many tier cake should she have :-) They are so happy, and so cute together and I could not be more happy for either of them. Greg is an awesome addition to this already crazy family and I just hope that he knows what he got himself into! Ethan was the best ring bearer you could ask for! He walked down at a good pace, carrying the ring pillow and went straight to the groom and waited in front of him looking up as if to say "I'm here, take the rings!". He did not know they were pretend rings, all we kept telling him was "you carry the rings and give them to uncle greg. Without the rings, they cannot get married". He took him job very seriously and could not have made me more proud. After he was shuffled to the side to stand in front of Mike (a groomsman) he realized that was not going to happen for long and went and sat next to my dad in the first pew. He sat there quietly through the ENTIRE ceremony! To add to it all, he willingly took pictures afterward without any bribes or cohersions and managed to make a few people laugh of course.

Onto the party! We got done with all the pictures and were off to the reception. Ethan must have known his obligations were over when he started rolling down the mulch hill garden with his cousin and then managed somehow to roll up it as well! In the buffet line he tried to strip down (he has an obsession with being naked lately), but somehow I talked him into staying dressed, atleast until people eat! He ate a good hearty meal and then it was outside to run around in the frigid cold with his cousins. He was a hot mess! He would come in to check in with me, snot running down his face, grass stains EVERYWHERE, mulch stuck to his dress socks ... and having an absolute blast! I managed to get a couple dances out of him, which I was more than thrilled about. He even spun me a few times. Then he was off being the stud he is and dancing with a fellow preschooler named Jordan. She was smitten with him and he played a bit hard to get. He would run out to play and make her stand there waiting for him until he got back, then he would dance with her a little ... spin her around and then leave her again. He is going to give us a run for our money in a few years! Kaeli was a princess. She had a gorgeous princess dress on to match the wedding colors and she looked so adorable. Unfortunately her small amount of hair would not hold her bow in for longer than the ceremony, but she still looked gorgeous non-the-less. I hardly saw her as she was passed around from family to friend. Everyone kept commenting on what a good baby she was, and she is! She is so laid back and makes for an easy occasional late night evening. Both of the kids crashed hard once the party was over.

Rehearsal Day his "fancy shirt"

I was sad to see it end, because I knew that I would not see them all again for a long time! It was amazing to see some people I have not seen in years. It was a wonderful family reunion and I am glad that I was a part of it. I am grateful to have such a wonderful family even though they are nuts at times and drive me insane!

My dad will be visiting us around Christmas time, My mom will be coming for Kaeli's first birthday and hopefully Jamie and Greg can make it around April. I am so glad to have a family that cares so much about us to make the trip out here and see us! I cannot wait to show them all that Colorado has to offer and why we love it here so much.

Birthday Boy!

Ethan is 4! I cannot believe it. He is so grown and we are so proud of him. He is such a loving little turd. We had his birthday party last week and he got a skateboard, a remote control quad, some connectors, spy kit, walkie talkies, books, a Chief doll and lots of clothes. This morning he woke up to balloons and his very own (real) golf clubs with bag and even a golf glove. His reaction ... "are you kidding me?!" He was so excited!

Oh what a con artist!

At what age is a child supposed to learn how to "work it"? :-) Ethan, turning 4 on Saturday had his well check up and shots today, 2 in each leg. It was quite an evolution trying to get his shots done. I tried to do the right thing by telling him up front what was going to happen, that it would burn for a second and then be over. I did not want to mislead him and then he be shocked when they started poking him! Apparently, it did not work in my favor! He was a mess, so upset and it took a lot of coaxing and a couple of us to hold him down. After getting home and seeing daddy there with his slurpee and movie from the video store, he had to be carried in the house from the car, put in our bed and started watching his movie. He then yelled to his daddy a few minutes later that he needed to go potty. He told Mike, "I need a wheelchair, I can't walk". What!? He is a little punk I tell ya. So Mike, being the great daddy he is, carries him to the bathroom and waits for him to go, then carries him back to the bed. Dinnertime, same thing. Then he asks to sleep in our bed and Mike obliges .. his reason, "in case he wakes up in the middle of the night and is hurting, or has a nightmare". While Mike is telling me this, Ethan is in his arms laying on daddy's shoulder SMILING! I said, you are something else Ethan. My heart sure is melting seeing Mike love on his babies so much though.

Update: Ethan is 39inches tall and 35 lbs!

Kaeli (8 months) 27inches tall and 16 lbs!

Mike's Checklist

One of the things on Mike's checklist of things to do in life was meet John Elway. To him, and many others, the greatest quarterback of all time for the Denver Broncos. Well last Sunday he checked the box! He and Matt (our best friend from Canada) went to the Broncos game in Denver and on their way out, there he was. He was a bit too star struck to remember his camera in his pocket, but Matt had the video camera so he whipped it out real quick and took a quick record of their handshake :-) We made it into a still photo for all to see the proof!

The results are in ....

I had an MRI last week on my back. Ever since I had Ethan, I have had a problem with numbness in my left leg ... and it worsens when I hold my babies or stand for long periods of time. Anyhow, the results came in today and it turns out I have a bulging disk in my lower vertebrae. I will have to attend physical therapy. Although I don't know for how long or how often, I am glad to have an answer as to what is wrong with my leg! I will update on recovery.

Amazing ..