Stephen at SMU v. Ole Miss women's soccer game

Stephen continued to have so much fun at Kaitlyn's soccer game last night. He even found a girlfriend (one of the assistant coach's daughters who is 6 and a half months old) We changed him into his pj's at half time and he continued to just go up and down the bleachers until the end of second overtime (they tied 2-2)

Hippie Hippie Shake

I just went to the chiropractor to get some relief before I can see the orthopedic surgeon. It went very well and I do have quite a bit of relief. He said that my hip flexors basically weren't working at all and adjusted me and they started working some. They are still very weak, but at least they are working.

I got back from the doctor and there's a voicemail waiting for me saying that the orthopedic surgeon has a cancellation NEXT WEEK! Hopefully they haven't filled it up by the time I can call back tomorrow!

Update: :( There was confusion and there was no availability for the appointment. Waiting 3 months for a consult is not fun.

Just like Mommy

I'm pretty sure this face comes from me. He was eating some cherries and eggs, which he got all over himself, which he also gets from me. He's taken a disliking to his highchair, but he likes hamming it up for the camera. We just feed him wherever he'll eat.

Start of Fall Madness

This weekend, we enjoyed having Sean's family in town for Kaitlyn's first soccer game, which unfortunately, they lost to Oklahoma State. We tailgated before the game, which was really fun, and brought Stephen. Once he was full of food, he really enjoyed cruising along the benches of the stadium (which thankfully, some architect had designed not to be open so that he could not fall through---forethought!) He had a grand old time banging and making noise and did not want to leave until the last five minutes of the game at about five til 9pm. Today, he took 2 almost 2 hour naps, which is highly unusual for him, but it was catching up with him. This weekend was the start of having a lot of family in town for almost every weekend this fall--both mine to visit Stephen, and Sean's for Stephen and Kaitlyn's games. We really enjoy having Kaitlyn here in town. I was even enjoying more the fact that I've been mistaken for a student while waiting outside her dorm. :) Unfortunately, next weekend's trip to Oregon for Sean with my dad and brother has been postponed, but we look forward to having Lilli, mom, and dad here in Dallas.

Baby Bjorn

We purchased the Baby Bjorn with back support before Stephen was born, and I've used it frequently, especially in the grocery store. But now, with my hip hurting more, I'm beginning to use it in the mornings when he is especially clingy to go downstairs and make coffee and let the dog out. I even used it to walk to the park this weekend with the dog. He likes being in there, and it makes things easier for me because it distributes the weight off my hip and over my back and shoulders. It also gives a great ab workout. I used to use a hotsling, which I loved when he was smaller, but now it is not all that convenient because the position to use at this time would be the hip carry, which is not the most comfortable. It is especially convenient to use the Baby Bjorn while traveling in an airplane, because you can carry the kid straight through security without taking the Baby Bjorn off. I'm trying to find a good backpack carrier for Sean to use, since he likes putting Stephen on his back/shoulders.

Constructing a Hip

Several people have asked me privately if I've found a surgeon for my hip and such. The answer, as a good lawyer will always tell you, is that its complicated. I sent a few orthopedist friends of mine my x-rays. Before seeing the x-rays, there was hope of possibly not doing a total hip replacement, instead doing an osteotomy, where they basically break your pelvic bone and realign the hip socket, or as I said to David, like realigning the wheels on a car so that they will wear evenly. It is still major surgery and the recovery is even harder than total hip replacement, but the benefit is that it saves the natural hip joint and may prolong replacement for hopefully another 20 years.

Unfortunately, the arthritis in the hip joint in my case is too far gone to do this kind of surgery and a total hip replacement is needed, or I need a new tire because the tread is gone. I have found a surgeon--thank you to my mom, who got the opinions of 3 independent people, plus my dr's, plus my friend Brent. The only thing is that the first open appointment is October 27th, so but unless there is a cancellation, I'm waiting until then. I have more research to do since there are metal v. ceramic replacement joints and benefits and detriments to each. On the economic front, I'm thinking that a company that makes these things is not a bad investment, since more joint replacements are going to be done with the aging of the baby boomers (and for people like Floyd Landis and I that have to have them done in our 30's)

I considered doing another blog about my hip, surgery, and recovery, potentially called Constructing a Hip, but I decided that I'll periodically post things in this blog here instead of having multiple blogs.

More from the Park

Stephen enjoyed going on the jungle gym...

I'm a hippie

I started belonging to this Yahoo Discussion Group for women with hip dysplasia...apparently they have discussion groups on everything. Anyway, some of the women have really pun worthy handles, like super hip chick, bionic woman, positively hip etc. and they call themselves hippies.

Sunday Afternoon at the Park with Stephen

more to come....we had a good time

Good Night Routine

Thankfully, Stephen has gone back to sleeping all night. We have a pretty good bedtime routine...we get a bath, which is optional, with these cool disco frogs that I got at Cosco World Market, pj's, story, and then cuddle. Whole thing takes about 20 minutes, if that. Tonight though was so cute. He was playing in his crib before bed and wanted my keys, which I gave to him (I said I would never do that, but whatever) After our story, I tried to take the keys away from him, which he didn't like, so I gave them back to him and cuddled with him until he went to sleep (about 3 minutes). I knew he was really asleep when he dropped the keys. I had been looking for a transitional object for him, but I'm not sure I would like it to be my keys. :)

Photoshop Elements

I just downloaded a trial version of Photoshop Elements, which is a scaled down version of Photoshop. I like it, except I think right now there is probably a learning curve. Here's a painted version of a Stephen picture.

Bath time cutie

I know its a phase, but...

This is a phase, but it sucks. Stephen wakes up from his naps, which average about 30 minutes or just long enough for me to take a shower and perhaps not long enough for me to put on clothes, and for 45 minutes to an hour after wants to be in my arms and fussy. He's in this extremely clingy phase where I can't go to the bathroom without him pulling up on me. It is not sufficient to be next to him, but wants to be up in your arms. Even in your arms, he's still fussy because I don't let him play with the phone. It really quite drains both Sean and I. When Sean gets home, he can't even go to our room and change clothes without Stephen crawling towards/all over him.

Listening to

Free to Be You and Me...someone reminded me of the song, Parents are People, and I downloaded the whole album from Itunes. Such a fun flashback.

i need a cell phone

Thank goodness for key lock

Cool Imaging

Although I got my x-rays in digital format, they are in some proprietary format that I can't send to some doctor friends of mine who want to see them, so I was experimenting with trying to scan in the x-rays or photograph them. I put one x-ray in front of the window with white paper behind it. I still got a relection of me in the photo, but I think it turned out like a cool photograph. I'm going to go to Kinkos since people on the web said that it is like trying to scan in slides, which Kinkos should be able to do.

In Preparation for the Olympics

I found the excerpts from the light show that we saw in China. It was just amazing and perhaps (hopefully) will be a preview of the Opening Ceremonies. I'm making Chinese food tomorrow night to celebrate the Ceremonies...

Crawling Upstairs

Stephen can also crawl upstairs:

MOVING

If there's one word to describe Stephen, its moving. He crawls everywhere, pulls up on everything and generally just is moving all the time. Oh, and the first picture shows that he actually is growing hair now. Its so soft, and blonde.

Reading Update

I have now finished four books in the last four weeks and now feel better. I really like getting back to reading again.