Some randomness and some surgery!

Every year we go to the Weber County Fair. It's so much fun, the kids love it. They have the best petting zoo where you can buy food and feed it to all the baby animals. Allie would spend the whole night here if we let her.

This year they had a wakeboarding competition right in the stadium! It was kind of ho-hum but was fun to watch for a little while. Maybe we'll get Ry out there next year. Ryan took this opportunity to show Cole how much fun he would have once he got old enough to learn to wakeboard ;)

Cole loved the baby animals, especially the little baby goats. They are so cute! Cole has been into EVERYTHING lately. He has hit a stage of being so curious. I walked into Allie's room a few days ago and found this.


Now for the surgery! I had a hip replacement. I know what you're thinking..."why would you get a hip replacement, you're so young!" I know, but I've had the hip of an 80 year old for years now. I got the same look and questions over and over while in the hospital when the nurses read that I had a hip replacement. They would always ask me to make sure there wasn't a mix-up.

So I was born with hip dysplasia and the doctors didn't realize I had it until I was close to a year old. I couldn't walk, I just army crawled everywhere. I was fast too. So when they finally figured out what the issue was, the damage had been done to my hip. I was in casts for several months and that's about all they wanted to do while I was so young. As I have grown up it has always been a little painful but has gotten so much worse in the past couple of years. And it's so frustrating to not be able to hike and run and do other fun things due to this annoying hip. So the doctor said let's do it! Time for a replacement. My main concern was if I would be able to have more kids after the replacement and he said that was no issue at all, I would still be able to carry babies. So we set up the appointment and on August 31 I had my hip replaced! I was nervous but so excited, this was a long time coming.
The surgery was totally successful but a little different than the doctor initially thought. By the way, my doctor is Dr. Tom Calton and he's the best ever. SO HAPPY WITH HIM. When they went in for surgery they saw that most of my bone had deteriorated and so they had to use a smaller ball joint than they had planned. Then they reconstructed a little here and there and after about 2 hours I was done. The downside to the changes that they made is the recovery time. It was originally supposed to be 2-3 weeks of taking it easy but I could lift Cole and get around pretty easy. It changed to 3-6 weeks on crutches and there was NO lifting Cole. WHAT???!!! How was that possible? I have two kids and all of a sudden I can't take care of them? This is where my wonderful family stepped in. My parents are the absolute best. Because of Ryan's job and school, he's gone most of the day. So every week for the next few weeks my parents will come and stay with us from Sunday night until Friday. They totally dropped everything to help us with the kids. We could not do it without them. Allie is at school during the day but Cole needs constant care and my mom and dad are doing everything! Taking care of the kids, driving us places, cooking, cleaning, laundry, everything. We are so lucky to have them. And the kids LOVE having them here, we all do. They're great company! Allie can't wait to get home from school everyday to see them. Allie is so helpful, as always. She is such a good mommy and loves to take care of Cole and I with whatever we need. And I must say that Ryan is the best husband in the world. He works so hard all day and then comes home and takes such great care of the kids and I. And then he's on weekend duty when my parents go home! He has to be the mom while I just sit around and heal. I hate that it has to be this way but he is happy to help and never complains. It's really frustrating to slowly heal and have everyone else do everything for you. I appreciate them all so much and I owe them BIG TIME. We've also had meals brought to us by people from church. Everyone has been so thoughtful and helpful! We are so thankful. So I am going on 2 weeks now and hopefully only have a few more weeks of recovery. I hate these crutches! Everything is 10 times harder and slower. I will never take walking for granted again. I miss reaching down and picking up my baby :( But one day soon I'll be able to and it won't hurt! The following pictures are definitely not glamour shots but you get what you get!

Allie was at school all day and didn't come to the hospital until the evening and by that time I didn't feel like taking any pictures. But Cole came to visit me during the day and I got to hold him while he took a nap. When he's awake I can hold him for a couple of minutes before he gets crazy and wants to climb all over me, then someone has to take him
My first time walking the day after surgery! They gave me the choice between a walker and crutches when I went home and I chose the crutches. Good grief I'm not old enough to use a walker! I do get a handicap parking permit for our car for 6 months and I must say, it's very nice ;) Here is one reason Cole loves grandpa staying with us. Don't worry, it's diet and caffeine free.

I wish I could fast forward time to when I'm all healed but I know it will get here, I just have to be patient. And my doctor said there would be no restrictions on me once this 6 weeks has passed. I am so excited to do so many things that used to hurt before! I can't wait. Thank you to all of our family and friends who have done so much for us during this crazy time. We appreciate everything! And I just had to add the video below, a lot of you probably saw it on Facebook already but I can't get enough of it. Cole learned to blow bubbles last week and he cracks himself up whenever he does it. This kid is too cute.