Hey Megan and Andy!

Sorry you are at work.....your daughter just crawled. :-) Way to go Kayley!!! Megan said Drew was 8 1/2 months when he crawled and she is not quite 8 months adjusted age so she is doing great on the mobility front!

Tip of the day

The news is full of the frightening swine flu that is starting to be carried around the globe. Here is a humorous but quite important video for how to cough and sneeze properly. I think this should be shown in every office and school across America!





Some pics I forgot to post of Kayley:

I won't eat 'em, but I know my veggies

This one is for the grandpas

Kayley had an endoscopy on Monday in the hope of discovering what might be causing her feeding problems. I am sure Andy will explain in more detail on his blog, but basically how I understand the situation, Kayley's opening to her stomach is larger than it should be and her exit from the stomach is smaller than it should be. Thus, when the stomach contracts it goes to the path of least resistance, which is back up. I won't go into detail because I am sure Andy and Megan will make a post on Kayley's blog and explain their options much better than I could. She has actually been doing very well this week and her personality is blooming. A video for Grandpa Butch and Mark:

He has a lot to say to grandma

He didn't win this "battle", by the way. :-)

Walk for the March of Dimes

Megan organized a team in honor of Kayley for the March of Dimes walk yesterday in downtown Phoenix. Team Kayley collected over $1600 for the organization which was pretty impressive. Megan, Drew, Kayley, Sharon and I and several of Megan's friends all participated in the four mile walk for preemies. It is a great cause and if any of you have extra funds in your charity budget this would be something to consider. Click to donate in Kayley's honor.

A very short video of the walk:

Barium Friday

Kayley goes to the doctor today for a modified barium swallow. We all are having trouble imagining her even drinking that stuff but hope it goes as planned. She still fights her bottle every feeding from the reflux so I can only imagine how the barium in a bottle will go down! The last few days she and I haven't fared well with the bottle. On Monday she goes for an endoscopy and biopsy so hopefully that will tell us something about why she is refusing her bottle. She takes her solids quite well, but she obviously needs the nutrients from the formula right now and isn't quite getting them from the amount she takes per day from me. Fortunately, Megan and Andy seem to have a little better luck (skill?) in the evenings feeding her so that helps. I cannot believe how strong this little girl is and she can basically overpower me in our bottle battle. Guess it is time to hit the gym and start pumping up when a preemie easily beats you in arm wrestling! :-)

Have a great week-end and hope wherever you are you can be outside enjoying some nice spring weather!

A happy hawk fan

A bummer basketball season for Iowa didn't dampen Kayley's school spirit one bit!

This is terrific

If this doesn't bring a tear to your eye, you need to lighten up! :-) It is 7 minutes long but worth every minute.

Click here

Happy Easter!

I went to Megan and Andy's this morning for brunch and the Easter egg hunt. Drew had a great time finding all his eggs and opening them to discover what mother bunny had put in each one. I brought him over a HUGE stuffed frog, thinking he would adore it as his little frog is very close to his heart. Huge is not always better! He immediately told us all "I don't like it" and he was telling the truth! He won't go near it. Maybe Kayley will like it....

I have some very important video footage of the "hunt" this morning and will be posting that tomorrow. :-) Hope your week-end was wonderful!

Grandpa's back in Iowa

Mark left early Monday morning, hoping to beat rush hour. He drove all the way to Dalhart, TX that day. Tuesday he drove to Matt's home in NW Omaha. Had dinner out with Matt and was going to leave Omaha today for the farm. He is now safely back on the farm and hope the weather is decent. He has been pretty spoiled all winter here in Phoenix! :-) Drew misses grandpa "playing train" with him. He drags me in there to play but soon tires of that. I must not be as great an engineer as his grandpa.

The following video is Kayley in a giggly mood. She is in her pack 'n play, thus the netting filter:




Drew playing with his trains:

Nine months old

Nothing much......

Not a lot to update. Kayley still tries our patience with her bottle feeding, or lack of bottle feeding. They are trying different formulas, trying to find one she likes. I think she looks just fine but some medical personnel think she should be taking more ounces a day. We shall keep working on a solution!

Mark leaves Monday for the midwest. They are having a blizzard in Iowa today so glad he isn't there right now! He would prefer to return to nice spring weather and head into the fields as soon as possible. Mother nature does her own thing and nobody can do a darned thing about it.

Some pictures from the past few days and a short video of Kayley eating some solid food.


If only Kayley were this enthusiastic for her bottle!! :-)

Ornery boy

Drew loves to torture Sox with the flashlight. :-) See video below. (I did check the paint job and it is intact!) The second video is Kayley getting close to crawling!

Mark is on his last week here before heading back to Iowa on Monday. I will hate to see him go but it is that time of year in Iowa for a farmer to begin work. He is going to stop in Omaha on his second night and stay with Matt in his brand new home. Matt moved in last week and we are so happy for him. I cannot wait to see his house! I am flying to Omaha in the near future to do just that if it can be arranged.

The weather is still beautiful here. You just never have a complaint about that in AZ. Well, except in July and August! :-)

Sharon and Arne finally sold their Terravita home in Scottsdale and are really moving to Florida in July. I am still a bit in shock over that one. As I told her, I FINALLY get down here and she up and moves to Florida!! They are very happy about the move so that is wonderful that the house finally sold.