Long road to recovery, but alive!

Nicole's brother Brian was in a motorcycle accident on Wed. He was on his way to school on his "crotch rocket", he was going around a corner when he hit a pot hole, he corrected, but then hit another pot hole and some washboards in the road and wasn't able to correct, he went into the oncomming traffic and was hit head on by a van. He sustained ONLY lower body injuries, no head, neck or spinal injuries and never lost conciousness which is amazing! HOWEVER.. he has a long road ahead of him because he did: break his Right Femur, Left Tib/Fib, Pelvis in 2 spots and dislocated his left hip and SI joint. He has some pretty bad road rash on his right arm and hip.

In the ER Trauma room, Connor and I made it just in time (before he went to surgery). I got the call at 9:45, just after the accident, being the closest family to him (2.5 hrs away) I threw together a bag for Connor and I and was on the road by 10:15

In the O.R. Prep room

Brian was in surgery by 3:00 pm and they did all three surgeries at one time (Femur, Tib/Fib and Pelvis). They ended up going through his knees to insert metal rods in his right Femur and left Tib/Fib (he has 9 small incisions on his legs total) They went through his abdomen (like they would do for a C-section) to place metal plates and screws on his pelvic breaks and through his left hip to repare the dislocations. The surgery was over by 8:00pm and he was to his room by 10pm. It was amazing the amount of support and visitors who were in the waiting room throughout the whole day!! The friends truly are the closest knit family on the planet!

Some of the many friends who were here all day....in the waiting room (playing cards) to pass time and calm nerves)

Brians buddies....

More of Brians friends waiting for news and to see him...many of them have crotch rockets, they said they plan to be much more careful and make sure they have the right gear on always!

One of the workers who came by... Connor and him hung out a lot :-)

Mom took the first flight she could.. she got here while Bri was in surgery, havimg Connor here has been the best distraction at times!!

After surgery, he was so glad to see all his friends and family!

He was so glad to see his nephew!

Connor was glad to see his uncle!!

Connor and I with Brian

Brian with his friends

Brian will be in the hospital about 5-6 days, or until hes able to transfer from bed to wheel chair with his arms..to learn to do this, he's been having physical therepy daily.. Brian will not be able to put any weight on his legs for 5-8 weeks, thus makinghim wheel chair bound.. the therepy will be very helpful in learning how to get around.

Therepy day one, they just got him to sit at side of bed with legs down, he made it 3 minutes

Day 2 of therepy, they had him transfer to a wheelchair and sit up for 30 minutes

Dad drove to Spokane Thursday. While its a crummy situation, he's also enjoying spending some time with his grandson!

Nothing about being in a hospital bed is fun... I offered to wash Brians hair with "rinse free shampoo" :-) He loved having the brush run through his hair and getting the "head massage"!

AHHH so good :-)

One thing Brian has enjoyed or appreciated is having Connor around to make him smile, he even made him laugh this morning (even though it hurts for Brian to laugh) because he was giggling so much. I FINALLY got it on video! here is a link to it on You Tube...(turn volume up, it's kinda quiet)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjF2IYoWQAI

The lady who hit Brian was very kind, she stayed with him until the paramedics arrived, and has been keeping in touch to check on him since.

Dena came to the hospital to check on Brian..She is so thankful that he is alive! The wreck was very traumatic for her as well!

Friday, the Doctor had all of Brian's bandages removed, we were all surprised how small the incisions are, they will heal well and be barely noticable!!

7 incisions on his legs total, but they are very small!!

We want to thank everyone near and far for all your thoughts and prayers. We are so thankful to have such a large support group!! It means more than you can imagine~

Brian has a long road ahead of him, but he has a great attitude about it and is taking it one step at a time, I'll continue to post updates as Brian recovers!

Cute as ever!

Connor loves bathtime... but he also loves the shower :-) I've gotten to where, I just put a soft mat and a towel down on the shower floor and let him lay there while I shower, then wash him off too... I don't know too many babies who love the warm moist air and the sound of water as much as Connor... SO much that he falls asleep :-)

a little foggy... but it shows how peaceful he is in the shower :-)

After showers/baths...Connor is usually in a great mood.. until we rub lotion on him... he's not a big fan of that part :-)

Can you tell how happy showers make him!!

This shows his long eylashes!! and his rolls :-)

more smiles!

It was a beautiful day on Thurs.about 73' sunny..so we went out to soak up some vit. D....

love his swim suit from great grandma and grandpa Cable!!

Again.. sleeping..

Some of the friends in Omak (Dawn and Jerry Grillo) had us over for dinner Thursday night, they also had the McCormicks over.. another other young couple in our field with a baby.. Connor out weighed their daughter Lizzy when he was less than 2 mos old... (she is 8 months older than him!)

Connor was obviously into watching Lizzy!

I still can't get over how big of a boy he is!!! No wonder i'm getting back into shape quickly :-)

Lizzy loves him!! She is still learning how to touch babies though.. she likes to pinch ;-( They will have so much fun playing together as they grow up! :-)

A good friend of mine, Lisa Grillo asked me if I wanted to help out at a fundraiser in town today taking pictures.... it was a Princess Party put on by Parker Place, they are raising money to support families who have lost a child to illness. Connor was officially the only boy at the Princess Party! This is how he responded:

"These princesses are exhausting!!"

These are a few photos to show how decked out some of these little girls were!~

Snow White reading a story to the girls...

Princess Dakota making a Tiara...

There was even a Princess Dance :-)

Not much else is new... My parents and brother are coming to visit next weekend, then we have Chelan Convention the following... Will post again soon!



The start to a busy summer

Connor had his 2 mo WCE last Tuesday.. he is healthy as a horse (except for having diarrhea.. but that we think is something in my diet) he officially more than doubled his birth weight in 2 mo. he weighed in at 15 lb. 10 oz. and is 24" long!

...Here are a few recent photos of him..

He sleeps in his crib at night, but when Jeremy leaves for work I can't help but cuddle with him in our bed... I am able to sleep in a little that way... and its so cool watching him sleep and smelling that amazing baby smell!!  :-)

He smiles all the time now! I love it :-)

We've been going for lots of walks lately.. this is him all bundled up for one of them...

Jeremy and Connor took me to dinner Friday before for Mothers day.. then Sunday we went to meeting and ate out with Jeremys mom.. here is us Sunday morning after meeting:

First Mothers Day picture!!

We have a very busy summer ahead of us.. basically between now and August we will be out of town about 10 weekends.... its a good thing Connor doesn't mind his carseat! This weekend marked the beginning of it all... a wedding in Wenatchee.. We drove over Sat morning and had lunch with Jeremy's mom Nancy, brother Braden, and cousin Angela along with Angelas hubby Dave and their baby Teagan who is 5 days older than Connor.. Here are a few photos of the second cousins meeting for the first time :-)

We ate at Sharis.. I've always liked booths.. but am realizing they aren't very practical with babies.. not enough room!

they didnt seem too interested in each other.. still too young to really care I guess

sleeping... sort of! Teagan liked Connors elbow...:-)

Teagan is a healthy baby like Connor.. but seeing them side by side.. I think Connor has already passed her up in weight...

How fun that they are so close in age! fun fun :-)

Because of where we sat.. and holding Connor.. this is the only photo I got of Krindee and Kendalls wedding:

Unfortunately it was raining that day.. so they had to switch from getting married at the park to the red lion hotel... It was a great location for a wedding though! It was beautiful...

We stayed with Jeremys good friend from high school and his family Sat night.. it was so nice to catch up with them and meet their 2 girls who are 11 mo. apart... (Autry is 21 mo and Kyla is 10 mo old) they have their hands full! That would be like me getting pregnant again right now.... my hat is off to Ashley!! she is super mom:-)

Holding Autry... she was loving that I was "swinging" her through the air :-) it was a workout! (uncle Braden is in the background with Connor and Kyla)

Jeremy and Travis cooked breakfast...

Go Travis!

and Braden watched the kids...

Ashley and I were hands free and got to visit! it was great :-) (ok so Ashley is actually cooking the bacon.. but still.. the guys did good!! )

We had a very nice weekend.. and Connor did so well.. we can continue to look forward to the rest of our summer adventures! :-)



2 months has flown by!

Hard to believe that Connor is already 2 months old! It's gone by so fast...At 2 mo Connor it 15 lbs. 23 1/2 in wearing 6mo clothes and getting ready to move to size 3 diapers! He is smiling, starting to laugh, able to lift his head 90' when on tummy, saying ah and ggg sounds consistently, has officially gone through a mommy only phase, starting to get his hair back, still loving baths and has yet to sleep longer then 6 hrs at a time..... :-) Jeremy and I are enjoying every minute of it! especially his smiling! Here are his 2 months photos I took.. This month I did Camo/Hunting as my background theme.

He loves his tummy!~ I let him take naps during the day on his tummy when I can supervize :-)

Showing off his healthy body!

So peaceful :-) (love the rolls o his arms and back!)

Fell asleep during the shoot!

AAAHH Bliss!

Finally got him to smile!

He was basically laughing in this one. This is my favorite one of the month :-)

I may be partial... but I think he is the most beautiful baby EVER!

"Hey mom... my hats starting to cover my eyes... but i'll still smile because you are dancing around like your insane~"

He wasn't sure about being inside a bucket at first.. but then actually seemed comfortable...

This is the snapshot I took for his baby book.. will do one every month in this chair to see how much he grows..

Loved this background.. but by the time I got to it.. be was tired of pictures, so maybe i'll pull out these cool stumps another month!

This is an adorable outfit from Uncle Braden:





Spring is finally here ~~'~@

The weather has been georgous! Finally... I didn't think Spring would ever arrive! Connor and I have been doing a "Moms in Motion" class on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.. basically an excersize class with a stroller... It feels good to be getting back into shape, and out getting fresh air at the same time. It's hard to believe that Connor is almost 2 months old (on Tuesday)! It's gone so fast.. he is smiling and laughing all the time now.. which is so much fun! This weekend Connor and I went to the Vintage Faire that was here in Omak!! I loved it.. totally my style of stuff.. I went with a very strict budget so as to not spend too much, I came home with a 2 vintage/homeade scarves and a very cool rustic red wooden kid chair (will be perfect for photography)

Because the weather was so good Saturday, Connor and I had a "picnic" and took in some vitamin D (of course my fair skin burned! I had Connor lathered up with 50 SPF so luckily he didn't!

 

Saturday, Jeremy worked on fixing the irrigation pipes that froze this winter while I mowed the lawn. I wore Connor in my K'Tan and mowed with our riding mower. I made sure that Connor had ear plugs in just in case it was too loud. He actually enjoyed it. As soon as I'd stop he'd wake up... :-) This will give me a great excuse to get outside this summer. I didn't get a photo of me and Connor mowing, but here is him with his ear plugs:

Jeremy always enjoys the weekends because he gets to spend time with Connor, here is the two of them spending time together.. Daisy also enjoys when Jeremey is home :-)

Will be taking Connors 2 mo photos this week.. i'll post them soon...