My Amazing Mom

Girls night out for dinner!


Beautiful Nana

I just had to post about my Mom. I'm so blessed to have the most amazing mom. In the past 6 weeks she has helped me through a very though time with my surgery. She has taken care of Chase and made everything as perfect as it could be. I feel like I don't tell her enough that she is AMAZING and very LOVED. Chase is just in love with his Nana. She lights up his world. Everyday whether that be on the phone or in person. She is absolutely beautiful on the inside and outside. Thanks Mom for everything that you do...You enrich our life and my family everyday..
Love you

My Very busy 3 year old

Chase loves my parents dog George


3rd Birthday...Thomas the Train Cake


Loves being outside


3rd Birthday----Loves opening presents


Swimming with Daddy. He splashes so much he can't open his eyes! LOL


Mother's Day


Loves kissing his Auntie Ape..xoxox


My Handsome Boy :)


It been so long since I have done a Chase Baby update. He is just doing great. He is so full or life and on occasion he loves to show me his naughty 3 year old side. Within the past 3 weeks he has moved into a big boy bed and is potty trained. He just thinks big boy underwear is the coolest thing ever. It actually kind of hard to get him to wear anything other then a shirt and underwear. He is just growing and changing so much. He has been on the slower side with talking. Well now he doesn't really ever stop talking. He talks really fast like his daddy and a lot of the time he is hard to understand. Since I'm around him all day I seem to have it down. He is getting such a kick off of talking on the phone to his Nana, Papa and Daddy. Every time either one of them calls he has to answer the phone first and talk. It's really cute! He loves to tell them that he "misses them" and "hearts them" It's enough to just melt your heart. Most of the time his smile is so huge and he is blushing. He also just loves his Auntie April. He doesn't get to see her very often but when he talks about her he is just in Love!!!! He calls April his "BUD" and again totally blushes. He is going to be starting pre-school in September. How the time flies. That whole thought just makes Mommy really nervous and I wounder where my baby has gone! (LOL) He is so loving and caring. All and all he is a heart melter. He really likes to be in charge, have everything the way he likes it, and put in the right order and place. We call him the "Little General" This age is so funny because from day to day he is changing and I'm not sure what to expect the next day...It's all just so much fun :) I need to get my back and body healthy and strong so that in the future he can boss around a sibling. (No I'm not Prego, just an FYI) I could go one for hours about him and what he does on a daily basis but I better stop there.

2nd Back Surgery

 

Where do I even begin. The last 4 months have kind of been crazy. The past year I have really been struggling with my back again. It's been going in and out and totally laying me up. After many doctors appointments and visits to the ER it was determined that I needed surgery again. I had two disk my L3-L4 and L4-L5 that had completely ruptured and broke off into my spinal column. Well needless to say I was very unhappy and in a ton of pain. Crawling was the most comfortable position for me. On April 12th I went in for surgery. I was in the hospital for 2 night and 3 full days. Ouch was an understatement on how I was feeling. The Surgeon removed 80% of one disk, 50% of the other, and just over a pound of muscle and bone at was around those disks on pushing on my spinal nerves. Recovery I was told was 8 weeks minimum. I was having a hard time believing that a first but I started to understand very quickly. The whole process has been BRUTAL! It's been 6 weeks and I'm still very uncomfortable and unable to bend or move around a lot. Everyday I'm making progress but it's at turtle speed. On June 9th I have another follow up appointment and at that time they will do more x-rays and I'm really hoping that I'm cleared to start physical therapy. I'm still unable to drive or do anything that takes a lot of energy. I know that this surgery will be totally worth it but it's hard to always keep a positive attitude. I was watching Zumba the other night on TV and I'm just hoping in the near future I will be able to dance again. I really enjoy working out and dancing. Sure can't do that yet! Some days I really struggle with being so young and being in so much pain. I know it will all come around in time. I have been very blessed with an amazing family and husband. I couldn't have gotten this far without them. My parents have been here 2 different time for over a total over 3 weeks. Lindsey and Blake VanOtten came down for a full week and took care of me. Love them all very much :) Chase has also been a total trooper. He like is play pretend doctor with me and make me feel better. The picture I have attached shows all the work on my back that you can see from the outside. I got to see the inside view on x-rays and that was horrible to see. Since this picture the staples have all been removed and it really looks a lot better. I'm still wearing the brace that goes around my middle/lower back and stomach area. I have at least a couple more week with that. It's great to get in the pool and let my body feel weightless and relax. After I see the Doctor in June I will hopefully have a positive update.
XOXOX

Chase Update

Life gets so busy and I can't believe that it has been so long since I have updated my blog. I really don't have a good excuse except I'm chasing around a very busy 2 1/2 year old. It's hard to put into words what an amazing little boy Chase is becoming. He is such a lovable, smart, messy, busy, well pretty much perfect little boy. He has been pretty slow to talk. Well in the past 2 months he has really come a long way. He is still hard to understand because he talks soooo fast like his Dad but he is really showing progress. He doesn't like to take anytime out of his busy day and sit down to eat. He likes to take a bit then run and play. He then comes back around for a bit every minute or so. In the past month he has learned to ride his trike. Nick never thought he was going to learn or show interest. Then one day he got on and is cruising everywhere. He loves to play outside and roll in sand. He absolutely loves his Dad. He loves to wrestle and play on him all the time. I could go on for hours about Chase. Hope you enjoy all the photos.. It's a good way to see his little personality.

Thanksgiving with my Family

This year was your parents turn to visit the Desert for Thanksgiving. It was so much fun to spend time with my parents. My Brother wasn't able to make it this year and he was missed. We invited our old neighbors Victor and Ellen to join us. The week was a little bit cooler then normal but it was still gorgeous. It didn't seem to hold the guys back from playing golf 3 days. I just feel so grateful to have such an amazing family and husband. Every year I think back about how luck we all are to have each other. It's so much fun to have our own little family and start making some of our own traditions. Since we have moved to Arizona the time that we share with family is so special and I try to enjoy every minute of it. Here are a couple pictures from Thanksgiving. Chase just can't seem to get enough of his Nana and Papa. He still talks about them visiting everyday and wondering why they left. He thinks they left to go and get George (my parents dog), check on the boat, play in the snow with boots on. It's so fun to hear Chase talk about what he thinks is going on......

Update soon to come

Hi Everyone,

I have been so horrible about updating my blog. All in AZ is going great. My parents just came down for a week and spent Thanksgiving with us. It was so perfect. I will update this week with pictures and try to get caught up.

Love you all..Steph

Vegas Girls Getaway and Lady Gaga Concert

I just got home from an awesome girls weekend in Vegas. It was the first time that I have left Chase over night with his Daddy. The boys did great. We went to see the Lady Gaga concert and it was so awesome. It was sold out and she played at the MGM. Over 17,000 people. She puts on a very good show with all the different props and costumes. Highly recommend going to see her if you get the chance. We did some pool time, relaxing, shopping, had our makeup done at MAC, yummy restaurants, and cocktails. On Saturday night we went and saw Jersey Boys. It was about Frankie Valli and the 4 seasons. It was awesome!!! Also highly recommend going to see that show. Really fun weekend but I was ready to get home and see my boys. I misses them both very much. I have an amazing husband that treated me to such a great getaway. Thanks Nick! Love you :)