New Directions

Bush and I have been talking about our "goals" for our physical fitness lately.  I have found quite a few quotes and inspirations that are helping us to be driven.  This year we have only a few goals we both want to accomplish... This september we will be running the Dirty Dash again in Utah and it is a 10K (which is a little over 6 miles), we want to complete P90X before the end of the year and we want to make running a regular part of our exercise regimen.  I will have pregnancy weight to lose and Bush just wants to become more fit.  We are not into the crazy diet fads but eating healthier is part of our goals as well.

We want to set a good example for our kids.  We want to be active with them and show them that being active will help them as they get older.  If we eat healthy our kids will eat healthy.  If we show that exercise is essential they will follow suit.  Besides who doesn't want to look and feel smokin' hot in their 30's, 40's and 50's??  We are young now and can make this change and luckily neither of us are overweight to begin with (except me during the pregnancy, ha ha) so this change shouldn't take a long time to take over our life.

And this poster is just so true!! Anyone who has ran a lot or did a hard exercise can relate to this.  Just a side effect of reaching your goals I guess!!  And as a trainer said, "Transformation isn't a future event, it is a present day activity!"  There will come a day when we can't run or exercise they way we can now but today is not that day so go do something that makes you sweat!!  I am now thinking of exercise as a gift/blessing from Heavenly Father... he gave us these amazing bodies, so why not use them?

What A Way To Start The Year...

So far this year has not been the best... and yes I realize today is only January 9th!! We have had a running joke at home that Bush was due for his next "accident" or ER visit.  It seems to be about every other year he ends up in the hospital for something.  Well he didn't disappoint last week on the 4th....

Around 9am I got a phone call from Wayne (one of Bush's hands at work) to inform me that Bush has broken him arm and they called the ambulance to take him to the hospital.  I will admit that after I hung up the phone I laughed a little bit just because of the timing.  I then proceed to get ready and pack a bag to head to Rifle.  My brother Nate and Clint's wife Brystal were able to meet Bush at the ER in Glenwood Springs right away.  After I left and arrived in Rifle I called my brother to see how things were going and that is when I found out how bad it really was.  Nate told me that he has a compound break in both his left radius and ulna and that he ripped off the tip of his left index finger.  I have some medical knowledge due to some DH classes and my EMT course so I understood that it was a really good break.

My thought was at least it was just a broken arm and nothing else...but I didn't know the rest of it till later.

After I arrived at the ER I saw the x-ray and was pretty impressed by it.  He was pretty drugged up but still in a lot of pain.  This is saying a lot because Bush can handle a lot of pain.  Finally he was moved into the pre-op room and they began prepping him for surgery at 4pm.  Dr. Adams was the orthopedic surgeon and came in and told us what he would have to do.  What happened was Bush also had compartment syndrome in his arm.  This is when there is too much swelling and blood and they would have to cut into the muscles and relieve the pressure.  I learned later that this is a pretty serious thing because if left too long it could require amputation because it would kill the muscles and nerves.  Luckily that did not happen.  The doctor told me it would take about 2 hours.

After waiting for a little over 3 hours the doctor finally came out.  He told us that Bush has severed his radial artery as well.  They did not know this before hand and they had to get another surgeon to come see if they could fix it... they couldn't.  Luckily we have 2 arteries going to the forearm and hand so it would be ok.  They said it was damaged beyond repair.  The doctor said he was confused that he wasn't bleeding like a 'stuck pig' and said something cut off the artery so he did not bleed out.  He then went on to inform us that there was too much swelling and they couldn't close him up.  He would need another surgery in a couple days by a plastic surgeon to perform a skin graft to close his arm.  Basically the doctor said the only good news was that his bones came back together perfectly.  He now has a plate and 6 screws in each bone.  He also has a large plate and 13 screws in his right leg.  Going to the airport should be fun!!

So on Friday he went in for surgery again to get the skin graft.  This surgery only took an hour but the doctor came and told me that they had to cut open his arm more and do a larger graft than originally planned.  They said that he will have to be home for around 6 weeks and then could go to light duty for awhile.  It will take 4-6 months for him to feel pretty good with using his arm again and a whole year before it is 100%.  He will also have surgery again in a year on the skin graft because the swelling will be completely gone by then and it will be too loose.  

We were finally able to leave the hospital Sunday evening and are now home.  Being in the hospital for 5 days is a long time!!  They took the skin graft from his left thigh and so he has a few wounds to heal up now.  

Now we are on a long recovery road.  Bush is seriously such a stud it is amazing.  He only takes a few pain killers a day and is doing pretty good.

I sure hope the rest of you have had a better year so far!!

Finally Have Pictures

So I finally got the pictures from the Half Marathon Bush ran!!!

Enjoy!!

Yes next time Bush will wear nip guards so he doesn't bleed from his nipples!!

Goodbye 2011, Hello 2012

It is the time of the year to make resolutions and new resolve to be better.  I have only a few things on my list that I want to accomplish this year but first I want to recap our last year.

It has been a CRAZY year and every year from now on will only get crazier...

January: We started/continued our adventure on remodeling.  It was a slow process.

February: We are still remodeling.  We took a break from "life" and went to Salt Lake a did a weekend of pampering ourselves.

March:  We finally got our kitchen cabinets!  This was very exciting for us.

April:  We got all the flooring done and FINALLY moved into our home!

May:  We found out that Jake and Sabra were expecting!!

June:  We ran the Dirty Dash, which I hope we can do every year!! We also (unknowingly of course) began our own family!

July:  We went to Boulder and met my cousin Caitlin for the first time.  We found out that we were expecting!

August:  Nausea set in overtime and was not the greatest month, however, we had our first appointment and got to see and hear the babies heart beat!  We also told our families about the new baby on Bush's birthday.

September:  We went on a cruise with family and friends.  Bush ran a half marathon and did really well. We also has another niece born on Bush's side, Zanea Hazelbush.

October:  Well my birthday is quite the big deal in itself this month but the biggest news was finding out we are having a GIRL!!

November:  We had a great Thanksgiving and I finally started "popping"!  It felt like it came overnight and hasn't stopped since!!

December:  We had the arrival of our niece Hannah Jo Allred!! We had such a busy month with Christmas and a Baby Shower.  Bush had 11 days off work which was AWESOME!!  I also started my 3rd trimester which was a funny reality check to Bush when I told him only 90 more days... needless to say his eyes got big and said wow that is so soon!!

So for this year I want to write down a few of things I want to accomplish this year...

1- Exercise a minimum of 3 days every week
2- Have a painless birth!! Ha Ha, I know this is impossible but I can dream!!
3- Take a week long vacation to Rhode Island
4- Go to Texas after Jake and Sabra move there and get settled
5- Lose all my pregnancy weight plus some extra to get back down to where I was and want to be
6- Oh and of course navigate the journey of being a parent
7- Stick to our budget that we have made so we can start the journey of becoming debt free

Hope everyone has a wonderful year!!

A Busy December!!

On Tuesday, December 13, my "first" niece was born!! She is technically not my first niece but she is the first niece on my side of the family.  Jake and Sabra had Hannah Jo Allred around 6pm that night!  I was so happy to be able to be there for her birth.  She was a tiny little girl at only 4lbs 8ozs, but she was 18" long!!  It was amazing at the instant connection you feel with your siblings kids.  I have never been a kid person and didn't really care to be around them unless I had to be.  I have really only liked a couple kids up to this point but little Hannah sure overtook them right away!  I just wanted to give Sabra HUGE props for doing it all natural.  Although I do have to say it freaked me out a little when I went down to her room to check on things right when she was giving birth.  I don't think I will be as tough as her, or the many others out there that do it all natural.  The whole experience of seeing Jake and Sabra with their daughter made me quite emotional, due to pregnancy hormones.  It was like a HUGE reality check that this will be Bush and I in just 3 months... or less!  Although like anything else we will just take it as it comes and try our best to figure it out.  This is one of the cutest pictures of a newborn I have ever seen (although I am biased)!

Hannah came out with red hair, which is funny just because Jake and Sabra are not red heads.  Jake joked and said maybe Sabra and I got too close while she was still pregnant and my babies red hair transferred over! So we will have to see if Bush and I have a dark haired baby!  

On another note I am so excited for Christmas this year!  I basically get two full days to celebrate... We will be here on Christmas day spending it with Bush's parents then that night we will head out to Provo where one of my closest friends in the entire world, Kimmy, is throwing me a baby shower on the 26th!! Then we will be celebrating Christmas with my family that evening at Jake and Sabra's!!  I am super excited for the baby shower because I get to see Kimmy and my other friend Kimber, plus I get to have some other close friends and some family there to celebrate me, ha ha!!  Oh and I get to spend some time with my hubby, which is rare these days with him living at Nate's 10 days straight and only being home for 4 days.  Sometimes his job really sucks but I am still very grateful to have a steady job with insurance.  

I also had my last week at H Dentistry in Parachute this month.  I was super sad to leave but Bush and I felt that driving that far and on those bad roads during the winter and being in my 3rd trimester was not a good idea.  I will miss working there very much.  It has been the best work place I have ever been a part of!  The staff was amazing and there was never any drama, ever!! So to anyone who needs dental work or a cleaning I HIGHLY recommend H Dentistry!! I really got to know my patients and that was amazing in itself.  

I sure just love this time of year even though I don't feel like I have really had anytime to celebrate it.  We have been so busy between traveling, working, our dogs and family but feel so truly blessed for our many blessings!!  I hope everyone enjoys their holidays and always remembers the Christ is the reason for the season!!  Merry Christmas!!

IT'S A GIRL!!!

So on October 25th we found out that we are having a 

GIRL!!!  Bush had a pretty good idea that it was a girl

and he felt pretty good about himself that he was right!! 

Everything on the ultrasound looked good (or so they 

said) so that is good!  Now we are officially looking at

names and getting the babies room ready... which is not

a cheap thing to do.  But oh well it is worth it!!   

More Cruise

We then went to Ensenada Mexico.  That was a bit of a disappointment.  No good beaches and it smelt like pee.  They did have a cool blow hole though.  I could have sworn we had pictures, I will post them when I find them.  Then we had a day at sea.  Which was basically they parked the boat and sat there.  But the bright side of being sea sick all day was that we got to see Dolphins swimming.  We saw hundreds of them!  Ok so the below pictures were not of dolphins but a ton of sea lions.

Then after our few days at sea, we headed home.  It was a long trip with a lot jammed into it but good none the less.  I was really glad to be on land, even though I was pretty sure it kept moving for the next few days.  For anyone out there that wants to go on a cruise just pay the extra money and go on a better cruise line than Carnival!!