If a movie was made about your life, who would play you?

So, today at work a few of my co-workers and I got into a conversation about if a movie was going to be made about your life, who you would pick to play the role of you.  There were some interesting names thrown around, but after some thought, I chose Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

We then got on the topic of celebrity look-a-likes.  Just out of curiosity, I found a celebrity look-a-like generator online and plugged in my picture.  The results were shocking:

It took me awhile to stop laughing.  Haha, anyway, back to the original question, if a movie were to be made about your life, who would you pick to play you?  For Megan, I was thinking either Reese Witherspoon or Blake Lively.  What do you think?

Broken Wings

About five and a half or six years ago, when Megan and I were dating, I thought it would be fun to go to the batting cages.  A few friends went with us and we had a blast.  Little did I know that day would lead to the down fall and complete and utter destruction of my body.  Maybe that's a slight over exaggeration, but it will lead me to having to have surgery on my left shoulder to repair a torn labrum.

For five years or so, I was able to live with the injury.  I wasn't able to hit right handed anymore when playing baseball or softball, but I managed hitting lefty.  Other than that, it only hindered me every now and then, but I was getting tired of being limited because of it.  Then about seven months ago, I was playing on my company softball team.  I showed up to a game late, so I didn't have time to warm up.  I got there and immediately went out to left field.  Of course the first ball was hit to me, and me, being an over-achiever, decided to try and throw out the batter at first base.  The throw was off and something didn't feel right in my shoulder.  I couldn't really throw after that.  I thought I just strained it because I didn't warm up.  I rested it for a week and tried throwing again, but it hurt like crazy.  Seven months later it still hurt to throw. 

About two months ago, some kids were playing catch in street.  One of them missed the ball and it came rolling up to me.  I tried to throw it back, but the ball only made it about 20 feet.  It was embarrassing.  I realized that my shoulder wasn't getting any better and I had to do something about it.  If you know me, you know that I love sports, especially baseball and football, and the thought of not being able to throw again seriously made me depressed.  I have always wanted to teach me boys how to play sports, and I would be so sad if I couldn't play catch with them.  During the summers, Megan and I would always go outside and throw the ball around, and I couldn't imagine not doing that anymore.  Anyway, the next day I looked up an orthopedic surgeon and set up an appointment.

I went through about eight weeks of physical therapy, but nothing improved.  I went and got an MRI and it confirmed what the doctor thought it was in the first place, a tear in my labrum.  The MRI showed a tear in the left shoulder, but not in the right.  I was having all the symptoms of a tear in the right shoulder too, and that was the one that was hurting more.  After talking it over with my doctor, we decided to proceed with the surgery on the right shoulder even though the MRI showed nothing.  He said he would check out the tendons, etc. while he was in there too.

So, a week and a half ago I went under the knife.  Megan and the boys dropped me off at 8:00am and I think I was gassed and out of it by 9:30am.  I came too around 11:50am and I think it took me over an hour before I was fully coherent.  I remember thinking to myself, "you are all high, so don't say anything stupid."  I was finally able to ask the nurse if the doctor was able to find what was wrong.  She informed me the I had a pretty bad laberal tear (SLAP tear and posterior Bankart tear).  Essentially I had torn off over half of the labrum from the shoulder bone.  Good times.

I got to go home around 1:30pm or so.  I was a bit loopy, but my arm didn't hurt because it was completely numb and useless from the shoulder down.  It was the weirdest feeling.  Before we went home, Megan stopped and got me some pain meds, which was a good thing, because about six hours later, the numbness started to wear off, and my shoulder hurt like crazy.  For the next two days, I sat on the couch, drifting in and out of sleep while hopped up on drugs.

The surgery was on a Wednesday, and I was able to go back to work on Friday, although I could only type with one hand (I wasn't too productive).  Since the surgery I have been in a sling, sleeping on the couch, icing as much as I can, and constantly on pain medication (I only take the strong stuff at night, because I get pretty weird).

The doctor had to make two incisions in the front of my shoulder and three in the back.

My right arm has been pretty swollen since the surgery.

I am still only able to move my arm a little bit, although I can type with both hands now.  Man this experience has been so much fun, I think I will do it again... in about six to eight weeks :(

Hundred Dollar Haircut

A few days after Christmas my thumb turned into a red, swollen, painful sausage. It hurt, bad. We all thought it was an in-grown nail or something. The Monday after we got back it was more swollen and painful then ever. It was New Year's Day so the Doctors were closed. We decided I should have it checked out that day. I went to the InstaCare clinic.

The Doc gave me numbing shots in my thumb. Ouch. My thumb filled with fluid and easily doubled in size. He then sliced open my thumb and proceeded to dig and carve into the inside using some kind of needle/knife that was MASSIVE. A large amount of puss oozed out. Then he juiced my thumb to get out the infection. Blood and puss everywhere. Yum!

I went home in the worst pain of my life. No exaggeration- worse than my two labor/deliveries. He gave me some pain meds and antibiotics. Later that night I realized since I was still nursing a baby I could not take the pain meds...Nooo!!

I had to soak and juice my thumb a few times each day and eventually go back to the Doc for a stronger antibiotic. One day, while juicing my thumb, I saw something small and black in the crease by my nail. You would never guess the cause of the worse pain ever ....

A tiny, thick 1/4 inch piece of James' hair! I had given him a haircut over Christmas break and one of those sharp little guys embedded itself into my finger.

It was quite the experience. Especially when my entire thumb shed a thick layer of skin and became crazy sensitive! It took a good 2 weeks AND $100.00 for my thumb to heal. Today James needs another haircut....

8 months and 3 years

This is definitely a journaling blog...

Our little guy is eight months old today. It's crazy how time is flying by and yet I can't remember what life was like without him in our family.

Lincoln lately:

Linc got his first two bottom teeth the week before Christmas-that was a painful week for all of us :)  He is still as sweet as ever, but watch out he is attached to his mom now. Which means, his mommy's back is stiff and sore all day long from lugging the 20 pound tank around all day .

Charlie must have really motivated Lincoln at Christmas time. Linc began to pull himself up to stand a couple weeks ago and now he can't get enough. He also really wants to crawl. In fact, we all want Linc to crawl already! He has been rocking back and forth on his knees and standing on his hands and toes with his bum in the air. So hopefully soon he will stop the swimming and start the moving.

He is still very healthy and very happy. He is sleeping from 7:45pm until 5:00am most nights which makes his mommy very happy too!

Lincoln loves Koby more than ever. When we go into Koby's room after nap time Lincoln beams. His favorite thing to do is go on a motorcycle ride with his brother. Hopefully they always stay friends:)

Koby Lately:

Koby turns 3 on Sunday and what a treat he is:) He is growing up so fast. Each day he impresses us with the new things he has learned.  He is fun to have conversations with all day long. He has definitely reached the question stage.  Here are a few conversations, just to get a glimpse into his little mind:

K: Hey mom, what's in a gumball?
M: It's just gum in the shape of a ball.
K: No mom! It just has energy in it. It gives me energy so I can fly.

K: What do horses eat?
M: You tell me, what do horses eat?
M: They eat carrots and apples.
K: What do glow worms eat mom?
M: They eat bugs.
K: Yeah, they just eat bugs. Lions eat meat mom. Meat and snow. Do they like to eat snow mom?
M: I don't know if they like to eat snow.
K: I eat snow mom. I like to eat snow. Snow is good for babies to eat too.

K: Where is the Eiffel Tower?
J: The Eiffel Tower is far away. It is in Paris, France.
K: Can I go to the Eiffel Tower?
J: It's too far away. We need a lot of money to go there.
K: I will go to the Eiffel Tower.
(Later that day we were at Hobby Lobby and Koby points to something...)
K: Look there's the Eiffel Tower mom!
Sure enough...It was an Eiffel Tower made out of rod iron:)

All day long its...
Can I fly mom? Does Linc have a brain in his head mom? What's is this picture about? Is it gonna be January tomorrow? Can cars fly? Can airplanes drive? Do jellyfish like to swim mom? ...We love his questions! If you can't tell we love watching Planet Earth. Koby's favorite is watching the people free fall into the caves. He then goes around all day and "jumps into the caves!"...counters, stairs, beds, couches,  he jumps—not afraid to fall.

We are still wondering if he will slow down as he gets older. So far he is just a ball of energy. It's exhausting, but really fun. We love how much he loves life. He is just happy to be awake and alive (even at 5 am). Whenever I pass by the nursery on Sundays I peek in... He is the loudest and most active kid around. He is definitely entertaining!

Life lately:

It feels like January is just as busy as December was. We've had injury, surgery, birthdays, etc. I was recently called as the Miamaid Adviser in YW and now attend mutual each week and teach lessons on Sundays. I also still have my VT coordinator calling. Life is busy! James had surgery on his shoulder (which will get it's own blog soon) over a week ago and as much as he tries to help, which I greatly appreciate, he has been pretty much going at about 10% of his normal capacity.  He will be in his pillow sling for another 2 weeks! I sure do miss him sleeping in our bed.

We have been able to hangout with Dave and Lisa and Emily and Shane a bit this month. We celebrated Em's 21st birthday with the Henrie's and (our 3rd annual) good old Oreo Cheesecake!

That's January thus far...

One more...

So we have one more Washington blog...

It wouldn't be a trip home if we didn't hit up Seattle! We of course chose the rainiest day... I do love the rain! We explored Pike Place and rode the monorail. We had never taken a monorail ride before and decided the kids would have a blast. We loved all two minutes of the ride:)

I have never visited the gum wall at Pike Place before...What a site! I didn't add my gum to it, and we made sure not to stand too close, but it was an awesome site.

We left the kids with the men and Rach took us girls out for pedicures-what a treat that was!

Koby and grandma made some excellent waffles...

Do you think we took enough pictures?!

Family Pictures

Since the last time we were in Washington for Christmas (2009) we have had several new additions to the family.  Emily and Shane got married and Charlie, Lincoln, and Ivy were born.  On the last full day we were there, we went out to were Emily and Shane had their Washington reception and took a few family pictures.  It was a little chilly, but the kids were good sports for the most part...Well for about 30 minutes and then the crying and whining began.  Luckily we were able to get a quite a few good pictures in before the meltdowns began.  We got all of these pictures on Rachel and Sean's camera (which I am extremely jealous of).  They turned out really good.

The whole clan.

Before we went out to the spot where we took the family pictures, we tried to get a few pictures of the cousins all sitting together on the couch.  Here is what we got:

It was quite the process.  As entertaining as it was watching the chaos of the children on the couch, it was even more entertaining watching all the parents trying to get their kids to smile and look at the camera.  Above this couch there is a mirror and in the unedited shots you can see all the parent's crazy faces.  We will have to post a full picture sometime.

Here is another full family shot and some individual family shots:

After we got back from taking family pictures, Megan snapped a few shots of the boys.

During the family pictures, Sean decided to share his Christmas present with all of us and we put on some fake mustaches.  Good times.

Here are a couple shots of just the boys and girls:

I am pretty lucky to have married into such a cool family.

Tis the season (Part 3)

One tradition that we have made when we go to the DeFreese house for Christmas is going shooting.  Randy busts out his 22's, shotguns, etc. for all of us to enjoy.  Sadly Megan couldn't make it out this year because she had to stay behind with the kids.  I am glad that she let me go though, because it was a ton of fun.  This year we actually got to go up to the same spot the family took me when Megan and I were still dating.  It was pretty cool.  I had never shot a gun before meeting the DeFreese's, but now I can't get enough of it!

Rachel and Sean we rockin' the "His and Her" rifles they got as a wedding gift.

After shooting 22's, we went nuts on the shotguns.  There were two to three clay pigeons flying at a time, non-stop!

This year, in addition to shooting guns, Randy took us (Sean, Emily, Shane, Megan, and me) out to do some archery.  Another first for me.  It was a blast and this time Megan got to come too!  We ran around the forest shooting at animal targets while Megan sang "Robin Hood and Little John Running Through the Forest."

We all had a good time.  I ended up getting a giant welt on me left arm because I didn't know you were supposed to slightly bend your elbow when shooting... smart me couldn't figure that out on my own.  In spite of the welt, it was a lot of fun!  Plus, I had the mental image of us all running around in loin cloths the entire time (Megan kept saying that she felt like an Indian and would prance around).

I hope we do it again :)

Crafts

I want to document some of the things I made in the last few months...

Made these over Christmas break with my 4 sisters and my mom-LOVE it!

James is going to die that I made Koby and Linc model the girlie things AND posted pictures, but hey Koby was more than willing to help:)

Em and I had fun making the following bows, headbands, and Onsie together:

Made some magnetic fish and a pole for Koby...

I made octopus out of socks:)

Emily and I also made some frames to keep our necklaces untangled. Hobby lobby sells any size frame edges for like a buck. It made this project really easy and enjoyable...

...Just some of what kept me busy between poopy diapers and smudgy fingers. Did I mention I love crafts?

Tis the season (Part 2)

So, I guess it is my (James) turn to write.  I missed out on a lot of the pre-Christmas festivities because I had to stay back in Utah until the 22nd to work.  Being alone for a week was interesting.  The first day of being alone was actually kind of nice.  I came home from work and relaxed, did some chores around the house, read a little, and watched a couple movies.  However, by the next day I had run out of things to do around the house besides sit an relax...  Needless to say, it got pretty lonely.  Over the week I was by myself, I think I watched ever single new release in the Redbox.  For some this might sound nice, but it got really old.  I really missed Megan and the boys.

Anyway, the night before Shane and I headed to Washington, I decided it was a good time to pack.  I also realized that I forgot to do any laundry.  Of course I waited until 12am to start.  So, I did laundry, straightend up the house, and packed.  When I was finally finished I thought I would be able to sleep for a couple hours before I had to get up to catch our flight... I was wrong.  It was 3:45am and I need to leave at 4:00am.  Not cool!  But I guess I did it to myself.

Shane and I had a little set back and we got to the airport later than we had hoped.  I was thinking because our flight was so early that day, we wouldn't have to wait long in the check-in/security lines.  Boy was I wrong.  I have never seen the lines that long before.  We were getting more and more nervous as each minute passed.  Finally we got to the security gate.  Both Shane and I ripped off our belts, shoes, etc. and got through the gate as fast as possible.  When our things came down the belt we just grabbed them and ran.  I had a hard time trying to keep my pants up :)  Of course our gate was at the very end of the terminal.  We made it just as they were about to close the gate.  Talk about a rush!  At least we got to Washington ok.

It was nice seeing everyone and before we knew it, it was Christmas Eve.  Koby was pretty excited for Christmas.  I don't know if he had trouble falling asleep because of the excitement, but when Megan and I finally came up to our room to go to bed, we found Koby sleeping like this:

Koby was the first to wake up.  We let him go into everyone else's rooms and wake them up too.  Following the DeFreese family tradition, we all lined up on the stairs to take a picture before going out to see the Christmas tree.

 

Excited to start opening presents.

Lincoln, Koby, and Charlie getting into their stockings:

 

Megan made Koby and Eli Batman capes.



Megan got the blog book she has been wanting.

After opening some presents, we headed over to Micah and Eve's church for baby Ivy's blessing.

After the blessing we headed back to Randy and Laura's for some more fun.  The McCall's and the DeFreese's came over too.

Ryder with his new jeans from Aunt Rachel.

Eli kicking it with Ethan in his Batman get up.

Koby happily playing with his mini bowling set from Aunt Shannon.

All in all it was a great day.  We got to open presents, go to a blessing, eat good food, and hang out with family.  I am pretty lucky to have such cool in-laws.