Sitting up

When we got back from the north country yesterday I headed downtown to the hospital for Kayley's 6 pm feeding. She did great, taking the whole bottle. The nurse and I decided to put her in a chair for some pics rather than always in her bed. She did pretty good considering she isn't even supposed to be born quite yet.

Sunday in Sedona

We left Flagstaff Sunday morning and headed back to Phoenix via Sedona and the beautiful Oak Creek Canyon and the red rocks. We stopped at Slide Rock which is usually rocking with kids and adults alike sliding down the mini-rapids on their backsides. But, yesterday signs were everywhere saying no swimming due to high bacteria in the water. We assumed that had to be connected to the vast flooding that hit that area a while back. It was still beautiful and probably much more serene without tons of people screaming and having a blast as they rode down. All in all, Mark and I had a wonderful trip north.

The most beautiful place in the U.S.

Mark and I are in Flagstaff this week-end and I took him for his very first view of my favorite place ever. The Grand Canyon.......

Sleeping beauty

Kayley continues to progress each day. Yesterday she took a full bottle/breast feeding three times in a row. She's getting there! We are all getting most anxious for the little angel to make it home.

Mark and I are off to Flagstaff this afternoon when Andy gets home. Mark has never seen the Grand Canyon so that is on the agenda tomorrow morning. Depending on when we get back from there we are also going to visit Meteor Crater and Sunset Crater Volcano Monument either late afternoon or on Sunday. It will also be wonderful to get away from the triple digits to low 80's and even in the 50's at night. My gosh, I will probably freeze to death. :-) I know we will have a great week-end and hope all of you do, too!

Lots of pictures

Not much happening out here in the lazy days of summer......I wish I could say "waning" days of summer but I heard on the weather to expect triple digits through most of September. But, they said the days of 110+ are over. Yeah! Swimming, sucking and sleeping has been the norm around here as the pictures show. Kayley is at 7 lbs, 9 oz. so that is good. Drew battled a virus over the week-end with a temperature rivaling the outdoor thermometer but is much better now.

We all totally enjoyed the sweet corn Mark hauled out here. It was simply delicious! We had Sharon and Arne over for dinner Saturday night and had a good visit with them. They brought along a DVD of The Villages in Florida where they are pretty certain to be moving to soon. I must say I hate the thought of them leaving Arizona but I guess after 30+ years of living here they are ready for a change of scenery. I will miss my hiking partner but she promised to come back once in awhile for some of those. :-) Speaking of hiking, the trail and falls (Havasupai) we hiked last April were completely flooded over the week-end and helicopters had to rescue hikers, rafters and campers from that area. Very scary. I am certainly glad we went in the spring and NOT during the monsoon season! I also cannot imagine making that grueling hike in this hot weather...

Mommy's little helper

Drew is at that age where he wants to copy everything that you do. I eagerly handed the following over to him. :-)

Waiting for Grandpa

As we await the arrival tomorrow of Grandpa and his sweet corn, thought I would post a few picks of my favorite two grandkids and their best friend. ( Kayley doesn't know yet that Sox will be her best friend...but she will!) The picture of two babies is a side-by-side of Drew when he was born and Kayley. Quite the resemblance, don't ya think?

Swimming at Terravita

Saturday we were invited to sister Sharon's home for swimming and dinner. My nephew Erik and his girls Kadin and Gracie were visiting from New Mexico so we had a great time with all of them. Andy took Drew swimming with the girls.

How's a person supposed to sleep?

I taped this a few weeks ago and just now found it. This was when Drew was in his old room, a.k.a. Kayley's "new" room.

Speaking of Kayley, she should hit SEVEN pounds either today or tomorrow. What a long, long way that little girl has progressed. We are hoping that she soon gets to come home. Her feedings are getting better each day and when she can stay awake for every one of them she will be homeward bound!

Grandpa Mark flies in this Friday with a suitcase full of Iowa sweetcorn. My taste buds are watering just thinking about his sweet corn. It is the best in the state! He is staying until after Labor Day so we have him here for a long visit. That makes grandma quite happy!

Today is the first day of school in Ogden.....my heart goes out to my old cronies there. I truly hated that first day of workshop and speeches. I think everyone knew I hated it, though. :-) Have a great year everyone!

56 seconds with Drew

Ordinary Miracle

My good friend suggested the first song in this video and I think it works perfectly for Kayley. I have put together a slide show of her great progress and changes from birth to today. This video is longer (about 5 minutes) than I usually post so you may want to let it buffer completely (i.e. go pour yourself a glass of wine) and then watch it. :-)

See ya later, Grandpa

I took Mark to the airport this morning for an early flight back to Des Moines. We had a great time while he was here and look forward to his return in less than two weeks! We visited Kayley often in the NICU, baby sat Drew and found time for ourselves, too. Sunday we went with Arne and Sharon to see Mamma Mia (the movie). If you have not seen it, you are missing out on a rousing good time, great music and a general feel great movie. I enjoyed it so much I am buying the DVD when it comes out so I can pop it in when I am in need of a pick-me-up!

Kayley is still doing great. Almost 6 1/2 pounds now. Last hurdle is drinking from the bottle/breast completely with no feeding tube helping her. She is definitely getting the hang of it and last night took 31 cc's for her daddy. She took 15 for me earlier so she is improving each feeding. I would think when she is strictly getting her nourishment from the bottle/breast she will be getting her walking papers. :-) How exciting will that be? Her room is ready and waiting for her arrival......

Grandpa's back in town

Mark flew in late yesterday afternoon. He was supposed to arrive at 4:45 and Megan was going to pick him up and the rest of us were going to meet them at the NICU. He was going to watch Drew while Megan, Andy and I went to an infant CPR Class. Well, as is very common with airlines, his flight was an hour late so Drew and I picked him up while Megan and Andy went to the class. I will take it next week. We still went to the hospital, though, so he could have his first peek at his new granddaughter. Tonight we went for her 6:00 feeding and he held her for the very first time, as you can see from the pics. Kayley hit 6 pounds yesterday, doubling her birth weight. I stole more pics from Andy's blog to show you the stark difference in her legs at 3 days as compared to yesterday. Amazing!

The big news today was that Kayley had her oxygen removed. Let's all hope she is strong enough to do it on her own. I am thinking she can!

It's like....kissing your sister

Drew came to see Kayley today. It was rather touching! Megan and I had been at the NICU since 9 am and Andy brought Drew after lunch. Drew has been saying Kayley's name for quite awhile and I show him pictures of her all the time so he has an idea just who this little person is but not quite sure what to think about her. I think he will have a lot to say about her when she gets home, especially when he finds out he is getting moved to a different room and bed and she is taking over his old stomping grounds. :-)

Let's try a bottle

The NICU is trying to teach Kayley to drink from a bottle. She is doing very well for someone who isn't even supposed to be born yet. Way to go Kayley! Email me!

Sunday morning in the NICU

Megan went down early today to visit her daughter. Grandma showed up around 11:00 to take some video and see how Kayley was doing today. She is inching ever so close to 5 pounds. My prediction is 5 pounds at Monday night's weigh-in! This is, of course, the complete opposite of the premise of the TV show "The Biggest Loser". We want Kayley to GAIN weight each weigh-in. She is doing very well in that department. She would have been voted off the TV show several days ago. :-) Email me!

Kayley's room

A visit with Kayley

Those pearly whites

Email me!

Just say "please"