Latest DeVore Stories

Brigham Cleans His Room

The other day I am on the phone in the hall and Brigham comes running out of his room naked. He throws the closet door open and grabs some Febreeze. I said, “Brigham, what are you doing?”

He responded, “I just need this real fast Dad” and started to run back to his room.

I grabbed the Febreeze from him and went to inspect. There were two poop stains on Jacob’s bed. Brigham had a baby wipe that he was using to furiously scrub them. When that didn’t appear to be working he had decided that he needed some Febreeze.

So, here is how it all happened. He had gone to the bathroom and some sort of accident had occurred where he had gotten his underwear and pants wet. He was embarrassed that he had had an accident so, after he was done on the toilet, instead of asking for help cleaning himself up like he is supposed to, he ran to his room to get some clean clothes. The problem is that he uses Jacob’s bed to climb up to get his underwear out of the top drawer of his dresser. When he sat with his naked and dirty bum on Jacob’s bed it left a mark. When he saw the mark he panicked because he knew Mommy would be upset so he instantly went to work cleaning up his mess.

Caleb

Caleb has turned into a smiley guy. He just hangs out all of the time and smiles. He just seems happy to be alive. Jacob really loves being around him. He is always trying to snuggle up to him and Caleb doesn’t seem to mind at all.

Lobster Night

Nathan received a Lobster-gram from a guy he works with and invited me over to enjoy it. It was incredible. There was lobster bisque, lobster cakes and the two biggest lobsters I have ever seen. We couldn’t finish it all. The two lobsters had arrived alive. Brigham came with us but wasn’t thrilled with the look of the whole lobsters.

Running Day

Yesterday was declared by Brigham to be running day. He got his running shirt and shoes on and he and I went running. We were just barely on the paseo and he started huffing and puffing, “Man, I’m getting really sweaty.”

Pirate Ships

Brigham got a “Black Pearl” pirate ship last night from Nathan and Kiersten for Christmas. He was so excited. We were then watching “Pirates of the Caribbean 2” and when I pointed out his boat in the movie he about went nuts.

Christmas Parties Galore

We have had quite a few Christmas parties this year and they have all been very fun. But the most memorable had to be the Spanish Ward’s party.

The whole family went and the kids had a blast. Santa Claus showed up and Brigham got a big green and silver Mexico soccer ball. He told us that he needs to go to Mexico to play soccer.

They had some musical numbers. Brigham and Jacob had a blast dancing. After the program they cleared away all of the tables so that everyone could dance. We decided it was time to go since it was already 9:45 pm. Brigham was very upset that we had left early. He told us that he wanted to stay and “Dance with the pretty girls.”

The Richmond Marathon

All I have to say is, “ooouch!” I actually have a little more to say but that is the overall theme of this post.

Yesterday Trevor and I ran the Richmand, VA marathon. Well, Trevor actually ran it and I more “barely finished it”.

I had been training for this for several months. We originally got involved with this because my sister wanted to run her first marathon. We did a quick search for a marathon that wouldn’t be on a Sunday and Richmond came up. It also said that it was ranked by Runner’s World as the county’s “friendliest” marathon. Well, that sounded like a good one for first timers.

Trevor had just run his first one in Salt Lake last June and decided he was up for another one. I had just had ACL surgery back in February but had sworn that I wouldn’t play basketball again until I finished a marathon. So we all decided to do it. We actually initially recruited some of my other siblings but they dropped out pretty quickly.

Tiffany ended up pulling a muscle several weeks before the race so it was just down to Trevor and me.

I felt like I was prepared. I had gotten in all of my long runs before the race and had done all right with them. The one thing I hadn’t done was much hill running (read “any hill running”) since, from my understanding, the Richmond Marathon hardly had any hills at all. I didn’t like running hills because they made me tired. I would find out later that that was a big mistake.



Race day was beautiful. We started and I was going at my slow and steady pace. The first 12 miles or so of the course was absolutely gorgeous. It was really incredible. But there were a few hills. They weren’t big hills but they were hills and in hindsight I probably should have taken it very easy on those hills. But I didn’t and by mile 13 I thought I was going to die. I remember thinking at mile 13, “What have I gotten myself into? I still have 13 miles to go.”

Up to that point I had run the entire way. My pattern quickly became, walk a mile and run a mile. Then it became run as far as you can and then walk until you can gain the mental fortitude to run again (I must say that at this point the difference in speed between me running and me walking was not that great - running just meaning that I bounced a little bit.

Holly and Heather had come as well as Heather’s sister Cassidy, her husband Matt, and Trevor and Heather’s friends Matt and Marsha with their four kids. Matt of Matt and Marsha found me at about mile 14 and then everyone else was waiting at mile 17 with some much appreciated oranges.

Here are some pictures of Trevor at mile 17.





Here is me at mile 17. I look much better than I felt.



By mile 20 there was nothing left. I began seeing people with medics on the side of the road with IV tubes and such. My one goal became not to get carried off by the medics. I remember passing the 20 mile marker. The time said “4:48:00” and I thought, “Trevor is probably done. I reeeeeally wish I were done.”

This is a picture of Trevor finishing.



I kept plodding along. I never imagined that I would want to quit as badly as I did.

Mile marker 25 was the best thing that I had ever seen and I decided I was going to run the entire last mile. I just kept pretending that I was forcing Jacob to walk and telling him, “One step more, one step more.”





I made it and it was more relief than anything. My muscles have never felt that kind of pain before. It is the next morning now and I can still very much feel it.



Am I glad I did it? Yes. As Trevor said, the marathon gets better the further you get away from it. I will definitely prepare differently next time.

And by the way, Richmond well deserves the title of Friendliest Marathon. It was extremely well organized and everyone was so nice. Hopefully I will be back next year to make a better showing.

Nacho and Woody

We have been involved in some of the pre-Halloween festivities here in SoCal. Last night Jacob, Brigham and I along with Granny Dot, Trevor, Heather, Luc, Nathan, Kiersten, Henry and Tiffany went to Disney’s California Adventure. They had a special deal that they closed the park at 6pm and then reopened it from 6:30 to 10:30 for a Halloween party. They only sold a limited number of tickets so it wasn’t crowded at all.



The kids had a blast. First up was Soarin’ over California. That is Jacob’s favorite. It was Brigham’s first time and he wasn’t too sure about it.

Next we went over by the Monsters ride. The ride fun but the big hit was dancing with Sully afterwards. Jacob got up out of the stroller and was going wild. He didn’t want to leave.



They had Trick or Treat stands set up all over the place and everything was really fun. Jacob went as Woody and Brigham was Nacho Libre.

Tonight we went to our Ward’s Trunk or Treat. Brigham was a little nervous about going in his costume. At first he didn’t want to show anyone. But as he walked around with his bag everyone kept commenting on how cool he looked. 



After just a few of those comments all inhibitions were gone. He was flexing his muscles, calling out “Nachooooo!”, and striking poses with his “stretchy pants.” Several people wanted to take pictures of him. The best was when he was trying to pose and kept falling over because of the poses he was trying to hold.

Holly made the costume and really did an amazing job. She also decked out Jacob’s walker with horses. She was done up as Annie while I just went as my boring self.




PS
Brigham came in our room this morning and said "Nacho wants to snuggle with Daddy Warbucks" (the outfit I had worn to a Halloween party a week ago).

He also wanted some of his candy this morning. I told him he coudn't have any until lunch. He said, "But I don't feel well and candy makes me feel better."

Henry Mayo 5k

Today the family did a 5k in Valencia. Well, some of us. I woke everyone up at 7am. Brigham was furious. He kept saying, “I want one more nap.”

We got everyone down to Henry Mayo hospital. First came the 1k kiddy run. Brigham took this very seriously. Basically the kids ran around a long center island in the parking lot twice. Brigham was nervous about what to do so we told him that all he had to do was follow the big clown (he was the pace setter).

The race started and they were off. Brigham went running off with all of the kids.

We waited for them to come around the curve - camera ready. First cam then clown with the fastest kids. And then some more kids. And some more. And then the announce said, “Here comes the end of the pack,” but still no Brigham.

We looked on the other side of the loop and there was Brigham jogging along looking a little confused. I went up to him and grabbed his hand and helped him make it to the finish line.

After the race Brigham said to me, “I was a little lost, but you rescued me daddy.”

Next came the 5k. Jacob wore our number and had a great time. The course went through the paseos of Valencia and was really fun. Jacob kept clapping and said, “Is Jacob having fun in the stroller?” We didn’t break any speed records but we did all right.

Holly got to go through a Baby Expo the hospital was having and we came home with more free baby stuff than you can imagine.

Blue Mango in the Ensign

If you check out page 48 of the October Ensign you will see one of our VRs from Virtual Historian. The Church has used a bunch of VRs on the Joseph Smith site. If you want to see more of them check here.

Last Sunday Jacob spent the evening singing for us. I played all the Primary Songs that I thought he knew and he belted out each one. His pitch is really amazing. He is always right on.

What was even more amazing was that he would keep going with the song even when I was messing up. He kept right in time (except for a few times when I really messed up - my piano skills are pretty rusty).
It was great to see him get so excited after he sung each song.

He also played “I Love to Look for Rainbows” for us. He can pick the notes out by ear. Hopefully we will be able to get a piano soon so he can really start working on this.

Some Recent Brigham Quotes

We asked Brigham, “Are you cute?”
He responded, “No, I’m gorgeous.”

Last night we were talking about baby names and Brigham said, “The one I chose was Superman, Superman DeVore.”

Brigham at the Dodgers Game

Brigham got to go to the Dodgers game last Friday. He got to sit in Papa’s seats (which are right behind 1st base). But the highlight of the night was sitting in the Dodgers car. We went up the escalator multiple times to see it again.
He also got some “Shrek” ears which was pretty exciting.

Caleb Comes Home

Caleb John DeVore came home today. I had some early Church meetings then I headed over to the hospital to get Holly.
This was all supposed to happen tomorrow (on an even day) but Caleb had different plans. Wednesday afternoon at about 4:30 Holly called me at work to tell me that her water had broken. I rushed home and we threw things together (we really weren’t that ready since we were scheduled for a C-section on Monday the 18th). We dropped the kids off at my parents and headed into the hospital.

Holly really wanted an even birthday so she was hoping that they would delay the C-section until after midnight (Wednesday was the 13th). But that wasn’t to be. Shortly after we arrived the nurse came in and said, “Dr. Ostercamp” wants to do this in 45 minutes.

About an hour later he had arrived. The C-section went smoothly. He weighed in at 7 lbs. 10 oz. - just one ounce off of what my father had predicted with his ultrasound measurements.
The only hitch in the whole thing was that we didn’t have a name for him. So far that night and almost all of the next day he was “Cousin IT”.

We narrowed it down to Adam and Ryan but neither one felt right. By Thursday night we were to the point that we were flipping coins (the name I liked won 5 out of 6 times). But still neither one “felt” right. So we threw them both out and started over. Caleb John just seemed right. My Dad says that he is going to call him Kolob but we think he will eventually get the pronunciation correct.

The boys have approached the change cautiously. Brigham was fascinated when I showed him the pictures of Caleb but didn’t want to go near him in the hospital. He likes to look at him just doesn’t want to hold him because “he is too small.” Brigham has a tendency to break things so maybe he doesn’t want to risk damaging baby brother.



Brigham always wanted to come to the hospital though. He had an especially good time creating his “comfy chair” with the pillows.

He eventually warmed up to Caleb but will often say “I want Daddy to hold Caleb” when Holly is feeding him.





The picture above pretty much sums up Jacob’s feelings about the whole thing. We put Caleb on his lap and he about jumped out of the chair. He is pretty much like Brigham. He likes to admire Caleb from a distance.
Caleb arrived home today at around noon. His brothers are still at their grandparents’ house. We will see how it goes once everyone arrives here.

Changing Colors

I was putting Brigham to bed tonight and he told me that he wanted his doggie to be white.  His stuffed doggie is white so I asked him what color he thought his doggie was.  He said it was blue because I had turned the lights off.  He wanted to lights back on again so that doggie would be white.

Jet to Jetty 10k

Trevor, Tiffany and I just finished a 10k down along the beach near LAX. It was great. Trevor got 49 min, Tiffany 50, and I came in with 1:10.
This was my first race since my 2 ACL surgeries and my knees feel pretty good. I was able to run the whole time. But I found out that my running speed isn't necessarily faster than other people's walking speed.
I remember my first 5k race I thought it was really fun to pass everyone at the beginning. The only problem was by the end I was getting passed by everyone else.
I decided that this time I would resist the urge to pass everyone at the beginning and I would do the passing at the end.
Well I only passed 2 people - and old guy and some lady who took a wrong turn at the end.
Afterwards we got some fruit and drinks. We were just walking to the car when the announcer said that the 3rd place winner in the women's 25 - 29 category was from La Canada. We stopped to see if we knew the person and he said "Tiffany DeVore". We were all quite surprised.
I didn't win anything but I think that if they had had a weight group I would have. I was definitely the fattest guy out there - which is great actually. I am trying to get ready to run the Richmond Marathon and I figure that running with this 30 lbs. of extra weight is like swinging a bat with a doughnut. I am bound to loose some of the weight while training so when marathon day comes I will feel like I am walking on air.

Seeking for a Merciful Judge

Brigham bit Luc yesterday so my dad made him stay in his bedroom at their house. Brigham began crying, "I want my Daddy!"

My dad asked him, "What would your Daddy do to you for biting Luc?".

Brigham replied, "He would put me in the naughty corner," and promptly changed his cry to, "I want my Mommy!"

My dad then asked him, "What would your mommy do to you?"

He replied, "She would put a band-aid on Luc."

I guess we all have different approaches to discipline.

Brigham's Obedience

Holly's mom has been here for the last few days helping out. I asked her how it was going dealing with Brigham. She said that she is trying to teach him to be obedient like Hyrum (Hyrum Smith. Brigham is always telling everyone that he is Hyrum. We don't know why). I asked if him if he was obedient like Hyrum. He said, "Not yet."

Later today I took the boys to Krispy Kreme. After we ate our doughnuts the boys (both of them) told me that they had to go to the bathroom. I was floored. Potty training has been quite an issue. We went into the bathroom which had a regular toilet and a urinal. Brigham went in the urinal and Jacob went in the toilet. Afterwards Brigham told me, "I went in the daddy toilet and Jacob went in the mommy toilet."
Greg DeVore

Sent via BlackBerry

Hawaii hilights

Top stories from the DeVore 2006 Maui trip:

* Dorothy running up and down the stairs trying to find Luc after he got off the elevator without her.

* Heather hurdling the rocks to save Brigham as Luc was pinning his head under the water at the Pirate Ship pool.

* Luc vommiting at the beginning of the road to Hana. Jacob vommiting at the end. Trevor and Luc getting matching cuts on their knees.

* All day everyday at the Pirate Ship.

* Brigham trying to negotiate with a little girl for her pink heart sunglasses.

* Lavaflows

* Heather searching the hotel grounds for Luc who had locked himself in Greg and Holly's room.

* Brigham running through the hotel with nothing on yelling, "I'm naked! I'm naked!"

* The nice man who brought Brigham to Holly and told her that she shouldn't let Brigham be in the hot tub alone. (Nobody knew he was there).

* Jacob making everyone in the hot tub nervous by doing his impersonation of a drowning child (that is how he swims).

* Dad coming inches away from hitting a moving car with is drive off the 18th hole.

* Brigham sticking the room key into an ATM machine at the airport (he also tried to use it as a credit card to buy candy at the suggestion of Nathan).

* Luc putting a death grip on some other kid's rubber shark

Greg DeVore

Sent via BlackBerry

Brigham's 3rd day in Utah

We woke up early and started the day with a bang. Brigham was refusing to take a shower so he was laying naked on the bath mat. The next thing I know there is a big brown lump sitting on the mat.

We got it cleaned up and got him showered. We then went down to the Inn at Temple Square to have breakfast with my parents. Brigham had a great time eating eggs and pineapple.

After breakfast we headed over to Temple Square. Brigham insisted on pushing the stroller. As we crossed the street a TRAX car came by. Brigham was so excited he could hardly walk straight.

We walked through Temple Square and went to the North Visitor's Center. Brigham got ver excited when he saw the picture of John the Baptist baptizing Jesus. He yelled, "It's Jesus and John the Baptist!". After that whenever we saw a fountain for the rest of the day he said, "Daddy, let's get baptized."

We saw the Christus and the exhibition on prophets on the lower level. We then walked over to the Temple. On the way over Brigham saw the Joseph and Hyrum statues so we had run over and see those.

Brigham was very excited to walk up the stairs of the Temple to the doors. After trying to get in for a bit he came back down.

We then went over to the Joseph Smith Memorial building. Brigham had a great time in Distribution getting photos of Joseph Smith and the Nauvoo Temple. He got his own shopping basket and walked around picking up items. We then went upstairs and he was very excited to see the big Joseph Smith statue. He asked, "Daddy, you want to touch it?"

From there we made a quick trip to Deseret Book and a short ride on TRAX. Brigham was very excited about TRAX.

Later that afternoon Brigham got to see his Tingey and Hales cousins. We then went down to Alpine to a wedding reception for a kid we knew from Boston. It was in the back yard of a house by the mountain. I was speaking with some friends and Brigham was getting board. He decided that he wanted to go over by a rock wall. I let him. In a second he had scaled the rock wall and was running up a dirt hill. I went running after him but I couldn't climb the wall and get up the hill (knee surgery). So the entire reception got to watch as I negotiated with Brigham to come down. He eventually slid down the dirt hill on his bottom.

We made it through the rest of the trip without too much more hassle. The airport was a bit of an adventure. Both he and Luc were very tired and exhibited this by running around everywhere. At one point they escaped around a corner. Wheb I turned the corner I couldn't find them. They had ducked into a shop and were running their hands over all of the merxhandise they could.

Later on we put on Mary Poppins on my laptop. Brigham treated the entire terminal to a dancing rendition of "Step in Time".

He was a little wild on the plane but not too bad. He was very happy to see his mother when he got home. So was I.
Greg DeVore

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More quotes

Brigham was talking about snow so I asked him if he was a snowman. He said, "no, I'm just Brigham Young."
Greg DeVore

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Brigham's 1st day in Utah

Brigham had quite the day yesterday. He started out the morning at the Sal Lake Temple with Granny Dot, Papa and Luc.

He then went down to Provo and went bowling with Luc and some friends of Ja and Laura's while we went to lunch.

After lunch he and Luc hung out with Papa while Trevor and I were in a meeting. After we found them Brigham proceeded to get grass stains all over him by rolling down the little grass hills by the Admin building.

Brigham and Luc didn't last long during the commencement so we went and got ice cream. Brigham adapted to BYU life quickly as he began introducing himself to a cute little 4 year old in line.

He then went back to the Kessler's and had pizza.

Needless to say, he slept very well last night. He only woke up once - apparently from a bad dream - screaming, "I need my ice cream."
Greg DeVore

Sent via BlackBerry

Brigham Quotes

So here are some of Brigham's latest quotes:

We were at the airport waiting to pick up the car rental and Brigham was having a fit because he wanted to go up the escalator. He was crying and thrashing around so finally I gave in. On the way over there he said, "I was sad. But now I'm going on the escalator so now I'm happy."

The next day we were in the car and I asked him if he looked like his grandma Hales. He said, "No. I look like Joseph Smith."

He also went around all day telling everyone that he was Brigham Young.
Greg DeVore

Sent via BlackBerry

Brigham's Buddy

Brigham and Luc have become the best of friends - and enemies. As soon as they see each other they run over and give each other a hug. Within 5 minutes one of them is crying because the other wacked him.

Tonight on the way home from my parents' house I asked Brigham, "Is Luc your favorite cousin?" He replied, "Luc's not my cousin. He's my buddy."

A Morning with Brigham

Here is a blow by blow account of this morning with Brigham:

5:00 am - He comes into our room and climbs into our bed. From the other room we hear Jacob talking meaning that Brigham has woken Jacob up as well. Holly asks me who I want to be in charge of and I vote for Brigham. So Holly goes into Jacob's room to help him calm down.

5:05 am - Brigham says that he want to snuggle with Daddy so he snuggles up next to me and puts his arm underneath my neck.

5:10 am -I rollover and face away from him and he asks me what I am doing.

5:11 am - I hear some rustling behind me and turnaround to see that he has set the pillow up so that it is vertical with the wall. He is lying down with his neck at a 90 degree angle smashed up against the pillow. I tell him that he isn't going to be very comfortable that way. He says, "No! I need my pillow."

5:15 am - He sits up in bed and starts yelling in a low voice, "Marry me! Marry me!" This is from some audio snippet that somehow got downloaded to my mother's computer.

5:20 am - I ask him if he needs a diaper change. He says no.

5:24 am - He runs into his bedroom.

5:27 am - I hear him come back into our room. He opens the drawer that has his diapers in it and says "I need a new diaper." I sit up in bed and he tosses me the diaper. I ask him if he has a stinky. He says yes. He climbs up into our bed and I go to change him and realize that he no longer has any pants or any diaper on - and he just told me he had a stinky. After a moment of panic I realize that he was wrong about the stinky. I put his diaper on.

5:28 am - He says that he needs his airplane pants (his pajamas he had on) and runs into his room.

5:30 am - He comes back in with just a diaper on and his Mr. Incredible pants and asks me to put them on. He then runs back into his room and starts asking Holly for his Mr. Incredible shirt. She tells him it is dirty while he protests. Finally they agree on Batman.

5:32 am - He comes back in and asks me to put on his Batman shirt. He lies down and gathers Doggie, and all of his blankets. He informs me that he doesn't want Mommy's blankets. He wants Brigham's

5:33 am - "Daddy, I want Milk." I tell him that he can't have any until he wakes up in the morning.

5:34 am - "Daddy, I want Ovaltine."

5:37 am - Brigham goes back into his bedroom and starts and Old MacDonald musical toy. I call for him to come back into my room and he yells back, "No, Daddy! I'm in my bedroom!"

5:40 am - Brigham comes back in and lies down next to me. He begins to count - "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 16, 17, 18, 16, 13, 16, 17, 18, 12, 16, 17, 18, 19!"

5:41 am - He now does the alphabet in more or less the right order.

5:42 am - I get up and ask him if we wants to see a movie. He does. He wants to see Shrek.

5:45 am - Shrek breaks a doorway while he is carrying Fiona over the threshold. Brigham says that Shrek "Needs 2 minutes" - Brigham's standard punishment - 2 minutes in the "naughty corner" when he does something wrong.

6:14 am - Has some Valentine chocolate for breakfast.

6:17 am - He asks for his broom. Luckily, I am able to dissuade him.

6:18 am - He asks for his stool.

6:19 am - Apparently he can't find his stool so he drags one of the kitchen chairs right in front of the TV, climbs up and grabs the "Little People" VHS tape from on top of the TV. He tells me that he wants to watch "This one." "I don't want to watch Shrek." He takes Shrek out of the DVD player and I tell him to put it on top of the TV. He gets down, repositions the chair, climbs back up, puts Shrek on top of the TV and then puts the "Little People" VHS tape in the player. It's upside down so it won't go in. Mommy has just come in the room so she helps him put it in.

A Sledgehammer for those Who Don't Catch Subtlety

Last week we sent out an announcement that Holly was pregnant. But some - in fact most - didn't quite get it. So for those of you who missed it this is the remedial version of the announcement. We will say if very slowly - Holly - is - preg -nant. We found out 2 days before I went in for surgery. We just had to laugh since the whole time we were planning for this surgery we kept saying, "Well at least Holly isn't pregnant this time" (last time I had ACL surgery Holly was pregnant with Brigham and on bed rest).

Holly had her first real ultrasound yesterday. The baby looks good and she is about 8.5 weeks along. It looks like the due date is around the end of September. Because we have busy schedules we have already set a tentative date for the C-section of Sept 18th.

Holly will have her cerclage probably near the end of March.

I am doing better. I can now be upright for longer stretches of time. Brigham has come back to live with us. He had been so good. He is very concerned with Daddy's owie and keeps telling me "Daddy get better." He has only had one slip. Last night he got overly excited and attacked my leg. I obviously let out a yell and he felt very bad. He likes to kiss things better so I told him he could kiss my knee better since he had jumped on it. He went up to kiss it and started crying "I don't want to kiss it. That's gross. That's gross." Apparently he doesn't like the look of my knee.

I will finally get to start walking next Thursday. I can't wait.

It hasn't all been bad. I have lost about 10 lbs. on the "I can only get food if my wife brings it to me and she is tired and pregnant so she gets grumpy every time that I ask her for food so I only ask for food if I am REALLY hungry" diet. It is quite effective.

Yesterday I got dressed and forgot to put a belt on. I had to go to he bathroom and got up off the couch only to have my pants fall down. Jacob was in the next room with two of this therapists and somehow I had to make it past them to the bathroom without losing my pants. Let me tell you, walking with crutches while trying to hold your pants on is not an easy thing to do. I remembered the belt today.

ACL 2.2

So Friday I went back in for part 2 of my ACL surgery. By Friday morning I was feeling pretty good and was off of the pain meds from Wednesday's experience.

I discussed things with the anesthesiologist and he said that doing an epidural instead of general anesthesia. This would hopefully result in less nausea. So I went in, got my epidural, got a little "thwighlight" (this basically made it so I didn't remember the operation) and they finished the surgery.

Coming back into the recovery room I had the shakes pretty bad. I guess that is normal with epidurals. It tool awhile for my legs to get feeling back. It was kind of freeky because they felt like they where bent but I could see that they were lying flat.

The big challenge then became to pee. I couldn't go home until I emptied my bladder. I had had problems with that on Wednesday. Well, I found out that epidurals are worse in this sense. Finally at around 5 or 6 the doctor said they needed to give me catheter and admit me to the hospital overnight.

The pain really hadn't been too bad up to this point. They had given me some pain meds that had helped. One of the meds made me feel just a little bit queasy. The nurse asked if I wanted some anit-nausea medicine. I said that I as probably fine but she insisted that it would only get worse if I didn't take the medicine. It completely knocked me out. I couldn't really sleep but I could not keep my eyes open. So I was a bit incoherent for the next couple of hours.

While they were figuring out where they were going to admit me and how they were going to get me there I was detached from my ice machine almost the entire time. A couple of hours had passed by the time I was settled in the hospital room and hooked up again. During that time my leg had really swelled up and that caused a lot of pain.

Nathan and Kiersten came by as did Brad Smith. Nathan and Brad gave me a blessing and then let me rest. I still couldn't keep my eyes open for more than 30 seconds at a time.

I tried to just stick with my Tylenol medicine but by around 2am the pain was just too intense. The nurse gave me some morphine and that helped a little bit. I was able to sleep for an hour at a time and then would just be counting the minutes until my next dose of morphine.

By the morning the swelling had gone down and the pain was much better. They tool the catheter out and gave me another chance on the potty. No luck. At around 12:30 I was about to explode and the catheter had to go back in.

After that I was able to get my best sleep yet. I then spoke to the doctor and he said that they would take the catheter out again at 4pm and if I could empty my bladder before 10pm I could go home.

So after 4pm I tried for the next 6 hours. Finally at 9:30 I was able to. There had been a shift change though and the new nurses didn't seem to understand the instructions. They were going to make us stay until the next morning. We told them they needed to call the doctor. Finally at 11pm they told us we could leave.

By 11:30 we were finally home. Last night wasn't too bad. I started using my perpetual motion machine and that felt good. My pain is really gone as long as I stay horizontal.

ACL

As most of you know I had ACL replacement surgery yesterday. The only problem was that the ACL didn't get replaced. I am having a cadaver ACL placed in my right knee. The doctor got all the holes drilled in my knee ready to apply the graft. The cadaver ACL comes frozen so he had gotten it out earlier to thaw it out. The way they "install" it is by attaching it to a cord that goes into the bottom left of the knee, goes through the joint and then comes out the top right of the knee. They then pull the ACL through and insert the cadaver bone into my bone.

Everything was going fine until this last part. The cadaver bone crumbled. This presented a problem as there was not another ACL immediately available. I woke up and Holly came in. She said, "I have some bad news. We have to come back on Friday." The doctor was very apologetic. He said in all of the grafts he has done this has never happened. It was just a bad bone. The hospital is supposed to have a freezer where they can store backup ACLs in case something like this happens. They have the funds approved but haven't installed it yet.

So tomorrow I get to go back again. When Holly told me I just had to laugh.

This whole process has been full of bad luck. When I went for my pre-op they had to do some blood tests. I don't know if the lady was new or not but she stuck my 4 times. I have these huge bruises on my arms that make it look like Holly abuses me.

The one thing that has been great is this new ice machine called the Ice Man. They wrap some sort of pad in the bandaging that has two tubes sticking out of it. You connect the tubes to an ice machine, plug it in and instant cold on your knee. It is fantastic. The only problem was that mine didn't work. I told the nurse that it didn't feel cold at all. She said that it was just because of the wrapping. Later that night it still feel cold. We checked it out and it definitely wasn't working. Luckily Nathan had just had knee surgery so he brought his over. What a difference when it was actually cooling.

Coming out of the anesthesia was awful as usual. The surgery "finished" at 12:30 but we didn't leave the hospital until 5:30. Every time I tried to get up I vomited. That continued most of last night. I have to say that the anesthesia has been the worst part. My knee really hasn't been that bad.

That is all so far. We will keep you posted on what happens tomorrow.

Races, Ambulances and ACLs

Jacob ran his first race yesterday. The school district here had a fun run for the kids. Jacob's was 1k. All kids ran the same course around the school but they had each grade stagger their start. Jacob went around in his walker. His behavioral therapist, Maricruz, helped push him along. Along the way they had to stop at different stations to do push-ups, sit-ups, etc. Jacob didn't like the push-ups but Greg and Maricruz helped him get them done. Holly snapped photos of everything.

When Jacob got tired he just lifted his legs and sat on the walker while Maricruz pushed. He worked hard though. He was exhausted by the end.

Brigham ran for a bit also and the said, "Daddy, I'm tired."

Afterwards they had a gymnastics show and Brigham was enthralled.

We had a couple of other adventures this week. Thursday, Holly got a sharp cram in her leg and then almost passed out. We called my dad and he said we needed to be worried about a blood clot. So we called 911. A fire truck, ambulance and one of those red trucks that aren't quite a fire truck or an ambulance showed up. They took a bunch of readings and said that she needed to go to the hospital to get checked out. They were going to have me take her but her heart rate dropped when she stood up. So she got a ride in the ambulance.

Luckily Kiersten had been leaving for work when she saw the rescue squad. She had a feeling they were going to our house (she is either inspired or paranoid) and followed them. Sure enough they stopped at our place. So while there were six big guys running around with a stretcher all of the sudden a short blonde girl in maroon scrubs appeared. She watched the kids while I went over to the hospital with Holly.

It turned out to be nothing major. In fact, I don't think we even know what it was. We have figured out that this seems to happen to Holly every 11 years. It happened once when she was almost 12, again at 23 right after we got married and now. We have marked year 45 on our calendar so that we will be ready.

I found out that I tore my right ACL this week. That means surgery again (not the same knee as last time). This will be worse because I won't be able to drive for 6 weeks since it is my right knee. I would say that life is never boring around here but that is pretty much what life is when you have to keep your leg elevated for 6 weeks.

Steve Jobs Commencement Speach

Here is a link to a page that will let you into the Stanford section of iTunes. On the page is a link that when clicked will launch iTunes on your computer and go to the Stanford seciton. On the right is section of new stuff and one of them is Steve Jobs' commencement speach at Standford. It is really quite excellent. The link only works if you have iTunes. The video is a free download.

Sunday 11/22/06

Brigham has decided that he wants to be baptized. I don't know what they talked about in Nursery today but Brigham woke up from his nap saying that he wanted to be baptized. Tonight he went to bed with all the pictures he could find of baptism from the Gospel art kit. As I put him to bed he said, "I want to be baptized now." I am thinking that he will want to wait a little longer before he becomes accountable for his actions.

Today in Primary they were learning about Lorenzo Snow in sharing time. The counselor held up a picture of Lorenzo Snow and asked Jacob who it was. Jacob, who wasn't looking at the time, casually looked over his shoulder and said "Lorenzo Snow" and then turned back around to what he was doing. Jacob can be pretty handy if you ever need to know a prophet's name.

Tonight when I was putting Brigham to bed I asked him if he wanted to say his prayers. He was sitting in his bed and said "No! Like Mommy". He then proceeded to come and kneel down next to me. "Like Mommy" meant he wanted t kneel to pray like Mommy. It was very sweet.

Holly had her first basketball game yesterday morning. Brigham and Jacob had to drag her out of bed to go. Brigham was yanking on her arms and Jacob was pushing on her back. Holly contributed 3 points to a 44 to 26 point loss. They are going to have practice on Tuesday night. She is going to have to take over basketball duties for the family as I have hurt my other knee. I go to the doctor tomorrow to see what I have done.

Yesterday afternoon we got to see Chris Hales and kids. We met them at Griffith Park where the kids had a blast on the trains and at Shane's Universe (a huge playground designed especially for handicapped children). We didn't get much chance to talk as we all spent most of the time chasing our kids around.

Brigham's day

Brigham had quite the day today. While I was getting ready for Church he came in with lipstick all over his face. I went out in the hallway and saw that he had torn out all of Holly's makeup and managed to make our carpet look 10 years younger.

While Holly was cleaning all of this up he took off his clothes and his diaper. He then got a plastic cup a proceeded to walk around the kitchen with the cup over his genitals. When he removed the cup we were able to see that he had peed in it. At least it wasn't on the floor. I guess that it was his version of a port-a-potty.

During nursery Brigham had a major diaper blowout. Holly was conducting the Primary music so one of the counselors changed him. There was poop all over his clothes so when Holly finished the counselor handed her a plastic bag with Brigham's shirt and pants inside. So when Holly went to pick him up from Nursery he was in his Sunday shoes, black socks and a diaper and nothing else. So he got to walk all the way around the Church and out the front door that way. The best was that he had shark tattoo on his stomach. You can see a photo of him here.

Holly's Birthday

Holly decided that to celebrate her birthday she wanted to go bowling. We didn't think that too many people would be excited about it but boy were we wrong. Everyone had a great time - especially the little boys. Jacob had the time of his life. He had never been but he was thrilled from the moment we arrived. They had a little ramp that he could use to push the ball down. He still constantly asks to go bowling again.

Brigham and Luc were everywhere. They were grabbing balls left and right and chucking them down the lanes. It really was an incredible hit.

Jacob's Eye Surgery

Jacob had his strabismus surgery yesterday. It is to help him use his eyes together. Usually, when he looks off to the side his eyes go a little crazy.

The hospital told us to get there at 7am for 9am surgery. We showed up right on time but they had lost Jacob's chart. So they had to fill the entire thing out again. We got bumped so Jacob didn't go in until 11am. They great part is that no one bothered to tell us. We were just left in this room all by ourselves. When no one showed up by 9:30 I went to see what was happening. The nurse said, "Well, not all of his stuff was here so we had to put someone ahead of him." I said, "His stuff isn't here because you lost it." She was not helpful at all. I felt like I was at the DMV.

Poor Jacob hadn't been able to eat anything. He kept yelling for water and couldn't understand why his parents wouldn't give him any.

The surgery itself went well. He took a long time to wake up and devoured 4 popsicles before he got out of the hospital. We didn't leave until about 3:30. As soon as we got in the car he fell asleep again and slept until about 6:30pm.

After that he was wide awake. He didn't seem to be affected at all. His eye looks pretty nasty. All the parts that are supposed to be white are completely red.