March (a little late)

So I'm already falling behind on my goal to update the blog every month. I've been picking up several extra shifts at work. It's been nice to get a little overtime and to start saving up for Monty's next big adventure...He's going back to school! It's somewhat a sudden decision and definitely not one we were planning on, but it's the right thing for us to be doing now. He will be starting the MBA program at University of Utah this fall (or possibly not until January, still trying to work out those details). Between work and starting a few projects around the house we've been staying pretty busy. Spring finally appeared allowing us to get some stuff done outside and enjoy the outdoors a little bit. However, winter re-appeared last night. Someone needs to tell Mother Nature it's April and not time for 5 inches of fresh snow.Just before Easter we decided to color Easter eggs one night. It was a fun little project to do together and we had tons of colors to chose from in our little pack. I tried my hand at the crayon and wrote on my egg.

Monty must be in awe that eggs can come in so many colors

The finished product. Sadly, most of them are not edible because I learned how long you boil eggs for hard boiled eggs after I cooked these ones. The yolks aren't quite done in the middle but at least they look pretty.

While the weather was nice we started working out in the yard and planted fruit trees. We planted a peach tree and a tree with 5 different kinds of apples. I'm excited for when they give big and start putting on fruit.

Monty digging for the peach treeFilling in the apple tree and below is me burying the peach tree. I'm just hoping they survive our little miny winter we have right now.When we moved into our house in July of last year we couldn't decide what we wanted to do with the sliding glass door. So, for 9 month we did nothing. Finally a couple weeks ago we put up some curtains. I think it turned out pretty cute and they have hooks on either side of the door to hold them open. The hooks had to be screwed in by hand because the drill couldn't get the angle right. Makes me appreciate electric tools.

Very exciting news!!

So the highlight of our February was going to Rock Springs, WY the last weekend of the month to see my brother Steve and his wife Nicky. Rock Springs is definitely not the most exciting spot on the map but it was nice to go see them and we enjoyed a fun relaxing weekend there.

While February was a relatively boring month for us, March started out very exciting. March 3rd we were finally approved for adoption!! We are looking forward to the new adventure of finally becoming parents. It has been a long, difficult, and emotional journey but we couldn't be more excited with where we are at now. We are adopting through LDS Family services and our profile is now on their website. We ask everyone to spread the word and keep us in mind. About a third of the adoptions through Family Services are designated adoptions where birth mom and adopting parents find each other outside of the agency. Also a little plug for Family Services. They offer free confidential counseling to women of all faiths and backgrounds and help them to explore their options. They help explore all options with mom, not just adoption. It's a great resource available out there.

Anyway, put a link to our profile at family services on the side bar of our blog. We have also set up another blog that we are just updating monthly with what we are doing in our lives and doesn't have any identifying information on it. It can be found at http://www.montyandstephanie.blogspot.com/.

January

January was a rather uneventful month for us. We rang in the New Year by going to bed early. I had to work New Year's Day so Monty volunteered to work that day as well. It gives him an extra day off he can take whenever he wants which is nice. It's still way too cold to do much outside so we spent many evenings at home watching movies. The snow has started to melt so we did go out on a few walks around the neighborhood on some warmer days. (If 35 degrees is warm that is?) The only big event in January was Monty's birthday. We had some friends over for pepper jack cheese burgers and a very competitive bowling tournament on the Wii. I made an ice cream cake which I have to say was very de-lish. The only problem was the writing on the cake. It must have been pure food coloring because it turned our mouths blue.I think I must have eaten more words than Monty because my mouth looks much more blue.HAPPY BIRTHDAY MONTY!!!

Better late than never

So these are a few pictures from the Cobbley family freeze. Doing family pictures over Christmas was a good idea in theory. The theory went wrong when it was decided they needeed to be outdoors. It was 19 degrees and I for one thought I was going to freeze to death before we were done. It doesn't help that somehow I was the only one in short sleeves too.

We did get a few good pictures of the family.This is one of us just trying to stay warm while Shawn fiddled with the camera.

I thought this one turned out cute of the guys just goofing around.

Just the two of us.

While we were in Pocatello for Christmas we also went out with Shawn to do some pictures of just our little family. They turned out looking like engagement pictures but I think that is just what happens when you are a family of 2.

Home for the holidays

We had a very nice Christmas once again this year. This year we got to go up to Pocatello and spend Christmas with my family for the first time since we've been married. It was really nice to get away for a few days and we had a great time with family. We now have a photographer in the family (Shawn's so good at his hobbies) so there are some great pictures from Christmas and we did family pictures too but we had to leave before they were done so I'll have to post pictures later.
I just love this time of year. It always reminds me of how fortunate and blessed we are. Especially this year with how well everything went with Monty's surgery. We are so very grateful for our Savior and for the life he lived that makes the rest of our lives worth living.

Life returning to normal

We're slowly starting to get back into a normal life now. This week Monty went back to work full time. It's his third week back but the week of Thanksgiving he only did 18 hours and last week he did 30. He's doing so well and we are very grateful for that. We know how truly blessed we have been the past couple months. Last weekend was project weekend. My brother Steve and his wife came over from Rock Springs, WY and my parents came down from Pocatello to help us work so some of our projects that have been put on hold. They finished my shelves downstairs which is so nice. I was finally able to get our food storage out of boxes and grocery bags and see what we really have. They did a great job on them.

The next project was a much bigger undertaking and took much longer than we thought it would. That could be because I didn't have the right cutting tool, but I also come from a famliy of perfectionists so things just take longer to do, but that's ok because the backsplash turned out AMAZING!! Thanks guys for all your hard work.

Monty created the design for it and while it added a lot of cutting, I really like how it turned out. We still need to grout it but with working all week that part hasn't got done yet. Hopefully this weekend it will.

So much to be thankful for

While Monty and I cheered when October was over, it left us with so much to be thankful for. We came home from the hospital last Wednesday, so we have been home a week and Monty is doing so well. Our experience the last few weeks is not one I would even wish on my enemies, but we have survived, and more importantly Monty survived. When we found out he had to have surgery his surgeon said that it needed to be taken care of but that there wasn't a huge rush. Later they realized that wasn't the case. The aneurysm looked a lot worse than they had expected. It was so big it was displacing his heart. We have some amazing pictures the surgeon took but I'll spare you the blood and gore. His surgeon told me that after they opened him up they all held their breath until they were able to get him onto bypass and there wasn't blood running through his heart anymore. The valve that they thought was leaking a little bit because it was stretched was actually not stretched but leaking heavily because it was so deteriorated.

This is a piece of the actual graft that now makes up the first few inches of Monty's aorta.

The graft itself is the same size as a normal aorta. The top rim of the cup that it's in is how big Monty's was. The typical aorta is a little bigger around than a quarter and the portion they removed was about the size of a soda can. Very scary. They figure he only had a matter of weeks before it would have ruptured. I can't even begin to explain how grateful we are that they found the aneurysm when they did and that they were able to repair it and the valve so quickly. He now has a St. Jude mechanical valve. He ticks like the second hand on a watch and it is the sweetest sound to me now.

I had to throw this picture in. This is what kept us busy during Monty's 5 hour surgery. They had a few puzzles in the waiting room and we thought this one was fitting for Monty. It took me, my mom, and Monty's mom almost exactly as long to finish it as his surgery was. It was something to numb my brain as I waited for the phone to ring with the next update on how surgery was going.

The evening after surgery was very rough. because of previous lung surgery, Monty's lungs don't function at a normal capacity. While he does just fine like this, it took some convincing of his ICU nurse. They didn't want to take him off the ventilator until his lab work looked good. The problem was he was completely awake and conscious, breathing through a tube for hours on end and his labs were not improving. Poor Monty was awake on the vent choking and gagging for about 6 hours. It took some heavy persuasion, a persistant respiratory therapist, and getting the doctor to come in before they finally pulled the breathing tube. Monty says this was by far the worst part of the whole thing.

This is a picture 2 days after surgery. It's the first one we took in the hospital. While Monty debated whether or not he wanted to see himself right after surgery, after seeing him, I decided it was something I didn't want to remember and so I avoided the camera. Other than being very tired, he was already doing remarkably well. The dressing for the chest tubes looked worse than the actual surgical incision. He recovered very quickly and was ready to come home on Monday, however, because of the mechanical valve, he is now on blood thinners and they had difficulties getting his blood therapeutic. Finally Wednesday morning we had the number we needed to go home.

Since being home he ended up with an abnormal heart rhythm that landed us in the ER Monday night. However, the medications he was already on protected him from any serious complications from the rhythm. Yesterday we had another blessing in our lives. His cardiologist prescribed a med to convert his heart back to a normal rhythm. It can be pretty toxic to the body and is a 3 month course. However, by yesterday evening he felt and sounded so much better. Another trip to the cardiologist today showed that he had converted himself and he won't need the medication. While on our visit yesterday, the cardiologist said that he normally sees patients a few weeks to a month after surgery and they look like they've been run over by a truck. He said Monty looks like he's been run over by a Schwinn bicycle. and he might have to send him back to work early. Not bad for 13 days after surgery.

So this may not be the cutest picture ever but for two weeks after open heart surgery I think it looks excellent. We are so grateful for Monty's continuing recovery. We contribute it to all the thoughts and prayers given on his behalf. We have truly been blessed through this experience. I have learned to appreciate every day with Monty so much more than I ever did before. When you realize how close you were to losing someone you love, you see what a gift each and every day is.