Dad's whole family represented Team Lil' Lydia this year in the Step Up for Down Syndrome Walk!

Hello distinguished guests to my blog,

I am feeling rather chipper this afternoon following a bit of a bummer of a morning.

I mentioned last blog that I would be having a procedure performed on my left eye on Sept. 28th - turns out that it was actually performed on this glorious 1st day of October (scheduling conflict with the anesthesiologist). Anyway, things went pretty well with the tear duct probe and stint insertion. Turns out that along with small ear canals and nasal passages, it can also be assumed that my tear ducts are a bit on the small side - as the doctor had to poke and prod a little more than she had originally expected. I can't say I was very pleased after awaking from the surgery - Mom and Dad weren't there right away and some of the things I was seeing would be reminiscent of the Heffalumps and Woozles (not sure on spelling) dream sequence from winnie the pooh.

You should see the other baby! -just kidding

No really, I'm ok, I just look a little rough.

Enough about that, I'm well on my way to recovery and I wanted to take some time to talk about the Mile High Down Syndrome Association's Step Up for Down Syndrome event which we participated in on Sunday in City Park.

The conditions were perfect and I couldn't have asked for a more supportive team of people gathered under our tent. Although, there is always room for more in the upcoming years (plug for next year). It felt really good to look around at the 140-something other teams totaling somewhere around 3,000 people, and to know that we all have a common cause and that we were all there to show our support of each other - it made us think that this is the way God intends for all of us to be toward each other all of the time.

A nice shot of the pavilion at City Park in Denver - the backdrop for the Step Up Walk

Team Lil' Lydia representatives.

This doesn't even begin to depict how many people were in attendance on Sunday.

Rest-insured... I feel in good hands with these two (inside joke)

Stroll out!
Nik, Lydia and Koen ridin' in style

Snoopy was there too!

Anyway, I just wanted to thank everyone who walked, donated and thought about us during this fun event.

Oh yeah. I forgot to mention that I will be having some super cool babysitters tonight. Aunt Julie and her boyfriend Trent made the trip to Colorado from Iowa to visit us (go to the Brewers vs. Rockies baseball game) during a long weekend off from college.

Love you all,
Lydia

One year photos and special anniversary

Hello friends and family,

I got my one year photos and I must say that I am very pleased with the work that Kristi and I did. I hope that you all enjoy them as well.

Other notable information. Today is the one year anniversary of my heart surgery. It's so hard to believe that I went through all of that just a year ago. Mom says that there will be a cake to celebrate soon. I also want to let you know that I am scheduled to have eye surgery on my left tear duck on the 28th of September. I go in tomorrow for a pre-operation appointment. The operation is the day after the Step Up for Down Syndrome Walk. Hopefully this is the last year that I have to be planning for a surgery right after the walk.

Okay here are the pictures I promised to share.






Thanks for viewing my blog.

Love,
Lydia

Blogging from Iowa

Hello friends and family,

We have been in Iowa since Friday. Mom and her sisters participated in a half marathon in Waterloo on Saturday. It was a beautiful day and everyone seemed to have a good time after they caught their breath. Mom opted not to take me in the jogging stroller on this run and I stayed back at the hotel with Dad and we slept. We made it to the finish line to see Joni and Jenness cross the finish. We found Mom and told her good job.

Mom and Grandpa at the finish area.

The sisters at the end of the race We the went out for lunch where we had a suprise belated birthday party for Grandma. She did not know that her family was going to be there. It was fun to see Grandma soo surprised.

The "kids" table

The "adults" table

Later we went by the University of Northern Iowa to look around the campus. My Grandpa T go his degree while attended this university and my Grandpa E took a few classes through UNI. There was a game at the Unidome so we had a little trouble navigating the campus on the big game day.

On campus at UNI. Go Panthers!

On our way back to Orange city we stopped by my great uncle Bud and great aunt Crystal's house. It was fun to see all of the kittens and the cows on the farm. We also stopped by to see my Great Grandma in Kanawha. We got there a little late in the evening and we had to wake her up for a visit. Thanks Great Grandma for the time to visit. It was a marathon day in more than one way.

We spent Sunday through Tuesday just hanging out while everone was at work and school and then would do things when everyone else was home. On Sunday I got to hang out with my buddy Trey. He just turned 13 this weekend. Happy Birthday Trey! I also really enjoyed spending time with my Iowa cousins. They are very entertaining to say the least.

Trey, his mom Lori and me hanging out before Sunday dinner.

I thought you might like to see how I help packing for trips. This is me helping with the laundry and then starting to go after the camera. I am such a little helper

I love you all.

Lydia.

Another busy month

Howdy friends!

I will try to get you all caught up on the happenings at our house in the last few weeks.

Mom and Dad abandoned me one night this month to go to a Rockies baseball game. I was pretty bummed that I didn't get to go, but I had a great time visiting with my friend Sam and his mom and Dad.

Here are Mom, Dad, Scott and Andrea at the game

We also had a great time witnessing Zach and Heidi's wedding - those two are alright. It was a fun day, but I got pretty tired after playing with "Uncie" Dave and "Auntie" Lori.

These two (Dave and Lori) need to have kids of their own someday - wink, wink

We've been spending a lot of time this month working on painting the exterior of the house - Mom and Dad say that it's needed new paint since Dad moved in six years ago! They finally got around to it... and it's still a work in progress.... but from the street it looks finished. They had lots of help from friends to get the job done. I also was a big help... every time Mom got out her brush I would yell encouragement to her in my best cheerleader voice... needless to say, Mom did not get a whole lot done during the days while Dad was at work - I made sure of it!

This is the before photo of the house

Here's the new house color - we'll have to get a picture of it in the light next time

As you saw on my last posting I'm getting around pretty well. Mom has been putting the baby gate up at the top of the stairs so that I won't go tumbling down, but somehow I forget about the falling part and I want to go through that gate all the time. Mom also puts Boscoe's food dish on the other side of the gate and I really like his water bowl - endless entertainment!

I really want Boscoe's bowl - when will I ever get what I want

I've also been exploring more foods. I really like cheerios and I'm beginning to like things like pasta and crackers.

Here's me with a couple of my new fav foods:

The graham cracker took a little getting used to

Boscoe and I both like cheerios - I have to be fast to get them before Boscoe

I feel pretty good about spilling my cup - so does my buddy

Mom, Dad, Scott and Andrea and I went out for dinner (to Coloradans)/supper (to Iowans) last night. We had Mexican food and I absolutely love refried beans. We also found out that I like tortilla chips - but Daddy got nervous about me choking and took them away. Mom and Dad don't go out with me that much anymore because I like to "sing" while I'm at eating establishments. I don't like to be shy about it either, however, Mom and Dad wish I would be a little shy - they think I'm too loud.

After spending most of the time in a high chair, I got to hang out on the bench with Daddy and my baby after dinner

Hope you're all doing great.
Love,
Lydia

Summer fun

Hello friends and family,

My lack of blogging is not due to a lack of excitement or things going on, but rather we have been so busy. I have been watching a lot of my baby Einstein videos and eating lots of Cheerios. I guess I have also been busy with going to Paul and Heather's wedding, getting my one year pictures at Kristi's and general partying with friends. I will post some of my one year pictures as soon as we get them. Mom and Dad are very excited to see how they turned out.

I also have a video that Dad recorded of my new trick of crawling. I still have a few things to polish up but for now it works as a means of getting around.

My crawling adventure (Short)


Paul and Heather's wedding was very nice. The ceremony was at Paul's parents' house in Conifer (up in the mountains outside of Denver). The view was breathtaking and the weather was perfect. They then had a reception down in Denver later that evening where we ate and danced the night away. We all had a wonderful time. Thanks for getting married Paul and Heather.

Rehearsing for the wedding made me tired. Good thing I have friends like Heidi.

Here we are on the wedding day.

We were tired after all of the dancing and fun at the wedding the night before.

The wedding fun will continue next weekend with Zach and Heidi getting married. Too much fun.

Last weekend we went to Colorado Springs and I met up with Kristi and had my one year photos taken. She is so much fun to work with. After the photo session they had a fiesta party where we all brought our favorite Mexican dish and you guessed it, partied. Dad had fun playing Badminten and cornhole.

Kristi really gets into this picture thing. She's great.

Jason, Lauren and Liv took a road trip with Lauren's family to CA for a wedding. This meant we got to have Boscoe's buddy Jet for a little while. I had to intervene every now and then and separate the two dogs from wrestling.

Who wants the toy?

I just want to say that I have my Dad wrapped around my finger. Do you think this picture proves that or what?

Thanks for keeping up with my Blog!

Love,
Lydia

Mountain fun with Grandma and Grandpa

Hello friends and family,

I looked over the blog entry from Dad and he did a pretty good job. Thanks for putting up with the advertisement of the Step Up Walk. I would love to have as many of you join us as possible for the walk.

I had a great time with Grandma and Grandpa in Winter Park last week. We had fun bumming around the little ski town.

A walk in the woods. Look at those nice wild flowers.

The slopes in the summer. Nice and green don't you think?

A beautiful rainbow down the main drag in Winter Park. There must be a pot of gold down there.

We road the lift from the parking lot to the ski village. I'm glad that I was close to Mom in the front carrier.

Hello everyone! Greetings from the Winter Park village.

These were some big chairs. Now Mom knows how I feel in the normal size chairs.

Mom continues to take pictures like this to embarrass me.

We had a rather large storm roll through on Monday night this week. There was a lot of hail and strong winds. Dad was a little sad that he lost the aspen tree but we are very thankful that that was the extent of the damage along with paint and leaves stripped by the driving hail. Needless to say Dad was a little late to work in order to clear things enough to get his car out of the garage.

That's all for now. I am very excited that my friends Paul and Heather are getting married this weekend. We are looking forward to it and I plan to party it up with all my pals. I'm sure there will be a picture or two that we will blog about.

I am also looking forward to a party with Greg and Kristi on the 1st of August. The plan is to get my one year photos done before the party. More things to look for on the blog. I'm a busy girl and Mom and Dad try to keep up.

I love you all and God bless.

A blog entry by Dad

Hello everyone.

Lydia has asked me to blog for her since she and Jackie are up with Grandma and Grandpa in Winter Park CO for a couple of days. I had to be at work this week so I was unable to join them for the mid-week fun. I am sure there will be a few pictures and a blog entry about the time in the mountains.


MARK YOUR CALENDARS! It's time for our second walk for down syndrome. The Step Up for Down Syndrome Walk (formerly know as the Buddy Walk) will be held on September 27, 2009. Please visit our team site at:

https://www.syssolutions.com/MileHighWalk/Main/MyTeam.aspx?Reset=Y

Here you can help our team out by joining our team for the walk, donating to our team, or signing up as a virtual walker if you are unable to make it out for the walk. If you sign up as a walker you have the option to do your own fund raising for the team. Your contribution in any capacity will be greatly appreciated. We walk to support our friends and family members with Down syndrome. Every step we take helps to carry out the mission of Mile High Down Syndrome Association which is to assure inclusion and enhance independence of people with Down syndrome.

Sorry for the quick plug about that.

I'm sure that Lydia would want me to post a few pictures about what we have been up to since the last entry so here they are.

My niece Liv was baptized on June 28th. Jason, Lauren and Liv pose for a picture with Laurens parents.

Liv is such a cute baby. Must come from Laurens side of the family. Just kidding bro.

Lydia has to keep me from saying things that may get me in trouble. Too bad she was not around for comment on the previous picture eh Jason.

I had Friday July 3rd off of work so we all headed to the community pool for some fun in the sun. Don't worry, Lydia didn't go back into the pool after her lunch.

Lydia had a hair do for the 4th of July that looked like fireworks. What a festive little gal.

A belated happy 4th of July to you all. God bless America!

I hope that I filled in for Lydia sufficiently and don't worry, she will be back for the next entry. I hope that everything is well with all of you and thanks as always for keeping up with our blog.