A Much Better Day...

Today has been a much better day for us. Derrik woke up doing much better and hasn't been in much pain thank God! Obviously he is sore and in pain, but is bearable and we're making it through. His biggest complaint (as long as the other two guys that had the same surgery) is that they feel like they have done the hardest upper body workout ever and are so sore. I keep trying to explain to them that they were knocked out and had gas pumping their lungs for about an hour yesterday and that's what it is... but they just think their dying :) I'll let ya know if that happens! Today we went into the rehab facilities and got to check everything out. Derrik's incision sites look amazing. Almost no swelling and the incisions look like they are healing great already. The therapy today including making sure he had feeling everywhere in his arm, making a fist, having his thumb touch his other fingers on his hand, moving his wrist back and forth and side to side, and moving his arm with his elbow in and out. They said his range of motion for the day after surgery is great. They ended by bandaging him back up, put on stuff over the incisions so he could take a shower when he got home, and iced. We took some pictures of his arm for those that are curious... if you don't do that sort of thing just scroll down through the next three pictures (there are cuter ones after that... promise!)

Derrik all bandaged up

The top incision site is where the "Tommy John" was done and the lower two down by his wrist are where they went in to get his tendon

A close up of his elbow

So with all this craziness going on in our lives you probably wonder what happened to the little man! Thanks to amazing technology these days we have LOTS of pictures of our little man :) Here are a few....

Hi Mommy and Daddy

Grandpa's already putting him to work

Drinking his bottle during the morning conference call

Hangin' with some of his favorite people are Larry's P.X.

Bath Time... Loves it!

At his first Chatham Angers game... for those of you that don't know the Chatham A's had to rename the team

Update on My Little Patient

Sorry for the lack in updates... Things got a little crazy there again for a second, but I think we're okay now :)

Well I was going to do a Father's Day update first, but I realized I forgot to download my pictures before we left (once again lack of time) so I guess those will be done later. So where do I begin our crazy last couple of days... Saturday I guess. On Saturday afternoon my momma flew down to Fort Myers. Derrik and I packed up and headed down for the night. I went out with my momma and some of her friends while Derrik and Ryder headed out for their first night at the dog track together. I think it was a really nice night for both of us. I needed a girls night desperately and I think Derrik truly enjoyed doing something with his son that he really truly enjoys! Win-Win situation I guess :) On this trip to Fort Myers we also brought Chloe down to stay at a friends house. She has two little girls who I am very sure are giving Chloe more attention then she has seen in a long time! On Sunday morning we woke up and did our Father's Day presents (like I said.. pictures to come later), grabbed a quick bite to eat a Micky D's for breakfast, and then headed to pick up my mom at her friends house to head to the airport. She flew back up to Cape Cod with the little man and it was very hard to say good-bye. I held back my tears until I got to the car. I thought I was going to hold it together, but Derrik kept talking to me and the tears just came flooding out. He said he kept talking to me to get my mind off of it, but it didn't work. Once back in Sarasota we got ourselves packed for Cincinnati and then headed off for a little date night/Father's Day celebration. We treated our selves to a movie and then dinner since we hadn't been to the movie theatre in forever! Very early Monday morning we flew out of Sarasota up to Cincinnati with two of Derrik's other teammates for surgery. Yesterday consisted of lots of time in the doctors office with lots of decisions to be made. This morning we once again had to get up early (notice all this getting up early stuff when I have no baby?!? I planned this all wrong!) and we headed into the doctors office. The doctor doing the surgery is the doctor of the Cincinnati Reds and let me tell you what... If anything ever happens to him financially he has enough memorabilia to sell to make it through! The surgical center is actually in the doctors office too which was nice so we didn't have to bother with the actual hospital. We got there at about 6:30 am and did lots of waiting around. At about 9:45 they brought my very nervous husband back to the O.R. I was allowed to watch the surgery! I was very unsure of this because I don't do blood, hospitals, sickness... none of it! I did really good though. Through the glass wall I could see the whole O.R. and then on a television screen I could see the surgery up close. They had a nurse in there explaining the whole surgery too which was really nice. After the surgery was over they brought me back to the hospital room and said the doctor would be in soon to talk to me. About fifteen minutes later the doc came in told me that everything went great. The tear in his UCL that we thought happened recently over one pitch was actually something they feel happened over a long period of time (explains the problems in college) and said that it was very frayed. It made me feel good knowing that surgery was definately our best option. They said they got the new tendon (which they took from his wrist) in really tight and that he should come back stronger then ever. After that they said Derrik should be back in in about thirty minutes... So I watch The View... one hour... watched some baby story... thirty minutes... read my book... read... read... read... no Derrik. I start to really get nervous that something is seriously wrong. About three hours after I left him in the O.R. Derrik gets brought back into the room looking awful. It made me so sad to see him that way. Unfortunately Derrik had a really hard time waking up from the anesthesia. Seeing him like this is when I really started to have a hard time. I felt so nauscious but luckily had a soda close by! We made it through. He is still very very groggy, but thanks to another teammates parents bringing us some food back Derrik got a chicken sandwhich and fries into his system and is sleeping like a baby at the moment. He is complaining of pain, but the nurses said it is a very painful surgery and the pain meds can only manage the pain and will definately not make it go away. Tomorrow we go in for therapy at noon with four of the other players. We found out this afternoon a fourth player also had surgery... not a good month for the Reds! Sorry for this big long rambling paragraph, but there was a lot to explain! Meanwhile... our little man is enjoying his time with his Grandpa, Grammy, Auntie Ally, and Auntie Hailey. I am so thankful he has a place he can go and be loved so much while I take this time to take care of my husband.... family is the best!

My Hunny and I waiting for his surgery

Happy Father's Day

Happy 1st Father's Day Da-Da!

Love You Biggest Fan,
Ryder

Derrik and I would also like to wish our father's a very Happy Father's Day!!! Dad, Ronnie, and Tom we all hope you guys are having an amazing day! Wish we could celebrate it with all of you.

Our Little Trouble Maker... Showin' Off That New Tooth

So this evening as I am playing on the computer from the kitchen counter I think to myself how nice it is that I can see the bathtub from the kitchen in our new place. Makes it so much nicer so i'm not trapped in the bathroom. Right after that thought I look over to check on my little one to see him STANDING in his seat! So much for thinking I wasn't trapped next to him at every second. I went in quick to avoid him falling and called Daddy in with the camera to snap a few pictures...
We noticed during the photo shoot that you could see Ryder's tooth in some of the pictures! Double click on this picture and it should blow it up for you. You should be able to see his tooth on the bottom!

Believe it or not Ryder has never has juice before. At nine and a half months old I've just never bothered. The pediatricians we've seen have never really told me to push it, and I just thought it was weird to put juice into a bottle. I wanted him to learn to drink it at his meals from a sippy cup. Well he's just not really getting the sippy cup. He holds it like he should and puts it in his mouth, but then he just bites it. The other day he sucked up from my straw, but couldn't get it all the way. The next day I went out and bought little juice boxes with short straws and he loves them!!!
And Ryder now eats ANYTHING we eat! He chows it down! He hates the stage 3 baby food that is basically the food we eat in packaged containers for baby. I'm not sure if it's the packaged taste or what, but he eats the food I offer him from our plates. Oh well... I guess that's what he needs in the long run. Luckily he still eats the stage 2 baby food.

Ryder chowing down

And We Have a Tooth!

So in the midst of all of this moving, I've almost forgotten to tell everyone that Ryder's first tooth came through!!! We first noticed it the day after our drive. It's hard to see since he's not a fan of opening his mouth up for us, but you can definately feel it. So without the pictures you'll just have to take my word for it :)

Since there are no tooth pictures, I thought you might enjoy some pictures from Ryder's bath last night... Enjoy!

All Settled In

We're all settled... minus a few piles of clothes. It doesn't take too long to move in when you live out of two packed cars. It's perfect though. It's a blessing in disguise with Ryder to have no furniture. The whole living room is just a big playroom for him. Ryan brought up an extra bed he had laying around for us last night. It's so comfy and we slept great! Sometime this week he is also bringing up an extra couch from my grandparents house for us. It feels great to be settled! Thanks so much to my grandparents for letting us stay at there house and also to Ryan who helped us get the bed up here! It's great to have such amazing family that's always willing to lend a helping hand!

Today we are just hanging out in the lull of this craziness we are going through. I did quite a bit of work this morning which actually felt good. It felt good to get some normalcy. When Ryder wakes up from his nap we are off to get some groceries and some stuff for the place. Below I have some pictures from my camera I found from recently and from my grandparents house.

The car headed down south

The night after Ryder learned how to crawl... I knew I was in trouble when I saw this!
The night I was packing I didn't know what to do with Ryder... so I put him in the his tub seat with a cookie. Figured he could make a mess and i'd just rinse him off. Chloe wanted his cookie SO bad!

Ryder playing at Mimi and Papa's house

Hanging with his Papa

Mimi loving on Ryder

Actually got a picture of myself with the little man

Ryder's favorite toy he found at their house.... some ribbon

Some of Ryder's funniest picture are when he's trying to grab my camera

Hangin' with dada while the girls clear the table from dinner

This baseball life is making us CrAzY!!!

TIme to make a new "Home-Sweet-Home"

Yesterday was successful... Thank God! My grandparents kept Ryder for the afternoon and let us set out to find a new home. After a fustrating search on CraigsList and ApartmentGuide.com we managed to snag a place. It was the first place we went to, and honestly the price was right and we're not that picky since it is so temporary. It was clean, decent location to the field, and great location to stuff for Ryder and I. Right outside the front door is a playground and pool. Within about a mile is the mall, Target, Publix (our favorite grocery store of all time), and Babies 'R Us. Also right across the street is a YMCA with a really cool looking water park for Ryder. We can't wait to go try it out :)

Today we are going up to sign the lease, unpack the cars, and return the U-Haul trailer we used to tow our car. We will go back to Fort Myers tonight and hopefully be bringing up an extra bed in my grandparents garage and some other random furniture they told us we could borrow.

That is it for now.... I'll keep ya posted!

Off to find a new home... what's new?!

Well we made it safely to Fort Myers! We opted to make the extra hour drive south to see loving family instead of a nasty hotel room in Sarasota. Plus the idea of Ryder crawling on hotel carpet kind of freaks me out! The drive went relatively smooth for having a 9 month old, dog, and two cats in tow. We all survived. We got showers and had a nice dinner last night with my grandparents. After a great nights sleep I guess it's time to find a new place to call home. Like i've said before... it's a good thing home is where your family is because if not i'd never be "home". Enjoy some pictures from our trip and some of Ryder from the past week or so.

All packed up and ready to go at about midnight Friday night

Let get this trip started!!
Trying to entertain Ryder... and get Chloe off my lap for a bit!

Ryder at his last baseball game for the Mudcats this season... like the new shoes... Thanks Cozart's!!!

After swimming and the pool the other day... so sweet :)

Crazy hair... after swimming and nap again I believe. We do a lot of swimming and napping :)

Ryder showing off his new crocs

On The Road Again...

Isn't this the story of our life?! I know I haven't been to thorough with the updates, but things had been changing back and forth so much I couldn't even keep track. Yesterday Derrik threw for one last time and was still in pain. They told him to head home, pack, and get to Florida. We spent about six hours packing and got on the road at about 12:30 am. We drove for about four hours with Ryder sleeping and then stopped to get a little sleep ourselves at a hotel. We are back on the road now and have just gotten into Georgia(online courtesy of the new aircard my dad got me for work!) We have a few days to ourselves to find a new place to live and get settled. Derrik has to report to the rehab facilities in Sarasota for the 19th, 20th, and 21st. We both fly up to Cincinnati on the 22nd for some pre-op stuff and then surgery will follow the next day. We fly back to Sarasota on the 26th and then on Derrik will rehab. We are still trying to get a date on when the Reds are making the big move out to Arizona because we will be following them then. I believe my mom is flying down on the 20th to get Ryder and take him back to Cape Cod while we are gone for the surgery.

So that is the game plan for now. A little crazy, but we can handle it. Just one day at a time... or one minute at a time. We'll make it through :)

Thanks to all of our amazing friends who stopped by last night to help us load our stuff up and say good-bye. I never thought I'd be so blessed to have met such great friends. When we got in this sport I thought i'd be alone while Derrik had the team, but boy was I proven wrong! The guys on this team have some amazing women supporting them. I will miss you girls tons!!! See you all in Arizona!!!!

Ryder Crawling

I made one last attempt to get the crawling video up and it finally worked.... Enjoy :)

Delaying the Inevitable...

Yes that is what I have been doing by not posting on my blog for the entire ten day home stand. I've been trying to avoid a surplus of questions from everyone in which I have no answers for. As most of you know at this point, Derrik has been put on the DL for elbow issues. What began as some minor pain quickly turned into a lot of pain. Derrik tried to pitch through it and get treatment, but realized he just couldn't handle the pain. A week ago he had an MRI done that showed that his UCL was torn in his elbow. It was only partially torn, but we were told that the part that is torn is the part that baseball players need. Anyhow... The Reds head doctor said that he thinks Derrik should try to rehab it. They gave him a cortizone shot and are doing an accelerated rehab program. I'm not sure exacactly what is going on, but he should be back on the mound in like two weeks I think. The hope is that he is back pitching with no pain, but the probability of that isn't too high. Their reasoning behind it all is the surgery he would have to have would put him out of baseball for about 8-12 months so we mine as well take two weeks to see if this will work. That is the game plan as of now. I'm not even going to get into all the details of what happens if he has surgery because there are SO many and it's been giving me a headache all week. I will update as soon as we know anything, but for now it's just a waiting game. Keep us in your prayers... it will be a long year for our family if surgery is the best option, but we're strong and can get through anything :)

With all of this going on I haven't exactly been taking advantage of many photo ops! Bad Momma... I know... Unfortunately I have two really good videos I just can not get to load! They are of our two new accomplishments in the world of baby Ryder: Pulling himself up and CRAWLING! He's getting to be such a handful at the baseball games. The pictures down below speak for themselves I think. We went to Ryder's nine month check up and he's right on track for everything. His head circumference and weight are in the 50th percentile now and his height is still in the 90th... we have a tall one on our hands!

Got to run... Ryder is up fussing. He doesn't get that when Daddy is on the road we can go to bed earlier then 11:30-12:00 like we have to do on game nights.... I wish he only understood! Oh well... It means sleeping until about 9:15 :)

Hanging out at the baseball games...

What germs momma?!

Just like daddy.... totally relaxed taking a nap