Random pictures...

Some pictures from the past few days. Mark's brother Milt and his dog, and of course Kayley and Drew.

To Iowa and back

I spent Memorial week-end in Iowa with Mark. I flew out Thursday morning from Phoenix and landed in Des Moines around 3 P.M. Mark's brother, Milton, was there when I got to the farm. He had arrived the night before from Arkansas. His daughter Missy was graduating with honors from Buena Vista College on Saturday so it was great to see Milt and his/Missy's dog Honey. (see video)

Sister Sharon arrived at the farm on Friday. She flew in to town to attend an all- school reunion at Prairie Meadows on Sunday. Mark and I decided not to attend this reunion because our son Matt was coming home on Sunday and our niece Katie was also graduating from BV so we opted to attend her reception with our son. I am glad we did because we had a very good time visiting with Katie and her siblings and her mom and dad.

It was so great to be back on the farm! I pulled weeds in the flower beds, sprayed round-up, mowed and just totally enjoyed that...I know, sounds weird, but I REALLY like working outdoors in my gardens and yard. :-)

I must admit it was great to see Drew and Kayley when I returned to Phoenix. They are both fighting a bit of a fever but they didn't cause grandma too many problems on her first day back on the "job" today. A video of Milt's dog and our day...

The Inaugural swim

I stopped by Megan and Andy's for a swim yesterday afternoon and they took Kayley in for her very first swim!

The Bucket List keeps getting shorter!

Sharon and I hiked Camelback Mountain on Saturday after many weeks of contemplating whether we really wanted to do just that. Camelback is arguably the hardest climb in the valley, thus our hesitation. It seems like at least once or twice a month someone is being rescued from the mountain either from falling, dehydration, heart attacks, etc. Read Sharon's account on her blog and you will see why I have marked it off my "bucket list" of things to do before I leave this earth! (Her blog is on the right, "My Third Act"). Hope you are feeling better sis!

This girl was a 27 week preemie?

Kayley is making grandma work! She has so much get up and go that I am constantly chasing after her. You cannot turn your head for one second on this gal! Considering her very early start in this world.....all I can say is "how wonderful".

Lots of water

Sunday afternoon at the Thiel's.

This will make you smile...even on a Monday

A tip from friend Cyndy:

Marc Hansen from the Des Moines Register has an article on an older couple from Ankeny, Iowa. He is 90 and they have been married 62 years and are quite talented and very cute. Since they are from Iowa I couldn't resist!

Look mommy!

Andy, Drew and Kayley took the moms out for a Mother's Day dinner at Olive Garden last night. I had never been there before and I loved it. (I know, I am probably the only one in the U.S. who has not eaten there!) Drew and Kayley were very well behaved and allowed us to eat our meal in peace. :-) Such good grandchildren! They must have an excellent nanny...

Yesterday morning Sharon and I hiked Black Mountain. This is the beautiful mountain that they view out their window every day. We hit the trail head by 7:15 but probably could have gone even earlier as it was fairly warm by the time we finished. I am guessing it was the last time we will hike that trail together. :-( Sharon and Arne have sold their home in AZ and are moving to The Villages in Florida at the end of June. I must say I hate to see them go.

I am just going to enjoy my mother's day relaxing and maybe get into the pool later this afternoon. There is a pool here at my development but if the Thiel's are going swimming in their pool today I may have to go watch Kayley have her inaugural swim. I am betting she will love the water but perhaps the pool temp isn't quite "there" yet for her to take a dip.

Friday Kayley had to have another endoscopy but this time they did a pyloric dilation. She endured the procedure fairly well. Now we just have to wait and see if it makes a difference in how much food she can take at a feeding, whether she is more comfortable during/after a feeding, etc. Here's hoping it does improve things for the little girl!

Well, it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood and I am going for a walk. Have a great day mothers!

Happy Mother's Day!

My mom has been gone three years this September but I never let a day pass by that I don't think of her and dad. Dad passed away in 1985 at the tender age of 68 and mom left us in 2006. She was heart broken at his passing and then battled Parkinson's Disease and spent eleven years in a care center. Her last years were anything but glorious or easy. This is a small mother's day tribute to her. The music is by one of my favorite artists, Carly Simon. Not all her lyrics ring true to our personal family dynamics, but I like this song. Mom and Dad, I love you and miss you both very much!

Drew and Kayley

Half way through another week of our lives. Kayley is having a good week and yesterday set a world's record (for her), downing 210 cc's for one feeding. Some people might not think that is a great amount for a baby her age but believe me, it was a big deal for Kayley to take that much from her bottle in one sitting! She goes to her GI doctor today so hopefully she has gained a decent amount by this appointment. I know 99% of the population would shudder to gain .5 to 1 ounce per day but that's what we are hoping for her! Wish her luck.

Drew is very good with his sister and likes to play with her on the floor, as evidenced in the video.

File this under "miscellaneous"

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.

Long time....

It has been a week since I last posted! I don't think I have ever waited that long to make a post. The kids have probably grown a lot in that time. :-)

We had another good week. It has been unusually windy here. It made me think about all the wind I used to battle on the farm in Iowa trying to plant a garden and put in my flowers as I watched them sometimes ripped to shreds. It wasn't that bad here, but it did blow pretty hard several days.

Yesterday Megan and I did a long hike in the morning. It felt good but I could tell I had skipped last Saturday's hike. Climbing steep inclines requires you to stay in constant shape or you start sucking wind half way up! Megan and I really don't see one another during the week because I usually leave before she gets home so it was fun to have a long visit with her.

At noon we took Kayley for her 9 month picture appointment. It is so easy to make her smile...usually. :-) The unfamiliar surroundings just had her looking around but the photographer tried her best to act like a complete fool to make her smile. I think the shots still turned out great, though. I will scan a couple and post later.

Last night Megan, Andy and the kids took Mark and I out for pizza at our favorite pizza restaurant in honor of another birthday for old Grandma. I guess the years are going by fast to help me get on medicare as quickly as possible. :-( I still have a few to go but it seems to be approaching rapidly.

Today Mark and I are spending the day on a golf course watching an LPGA event here in Phoenix. I had hoped to see Michelle Wie but she has not played very well and is teeing off in the "wee" hours this morning. I don't want to see her THAT badly! I will settle for Lorena O. and Karrie Webb. :-)

Update: Just returned from the golf tournament. Karrie Webb won it. We had a great time and saw some awesome women golfers! We did get there in time to follow Michelle for a few holes. She had a police officer following along with her caddy.

Have a great week, wherever you are!

A video of an always busy Drew and some random snap shots:

Another fun week-end

It is a gorgeous week-end. Not too hot and certainly not too cold! Just perfect.

Mark and I went to our good friend and neighbor's Home and Garden store yesterday and did some window shopping and purchasing. Everything was 40-50% off so that made the prices reasonable. It is a pretty high-end store in Scottsdale so full price would have been out of my IPERS boundaries. :-) We bought a metal frame/mirror to hang above the dining room table. I hope Mark puts it up this morning as I am anxious to see how it looks hanging there!

Megan said Kayley is out of "RSV lockdown" so we took them out to dinner last night to Red Robin. Kayley was so good and loved looking at all the sights there and listening to all the noise. I would have to say she made the most noise, squealing in delight at everything she saw. Stopped at Babies 'R Us and I bought her a new summer capri set and Andy bought Drew a new lawn mower.

Today's agenda includes attending another Spring Training game with the kids. The season is just about over. :-) (Diamondbacks vs. Padres).

A video of our week:

Every woman's dream man

Kayley's first time down a slide

Mark and I took Drew and Kayley to the park this morning. We left around 9:30 a.m. because we wanted to be back before it got too warm. (Yes, it is already that time of year again!) Kayley had her first ride on a swing and her first time down a slide, with a little help from grandma.

Drew took his first dive of the season in his pool last night. It was an unplanned event caused by losing his balance while helping his dad do some pool cleaning. He was just fine as Andy scooped him right out but he was a bit upset with the water temperature! I was hoping Andy would have to jump in after him but he was able to retrieve him with just a helping hand. :-(

Our time at the park: