2009 - And so it begins

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year - from Me and Grandma!

Well everyone, I was so caught up in the hoopla of the holidays that I neglected to keep you all posted on the events of the last few weeks.

The folks and I left on December 22nd to make the long jaunt to Iowa. We had great travel conditions the whole way and I was a saint. However, the trip was a little tainted due to a little bug or something that Mom and Dad picked up. Dad was nauseous the whole way and Mom actually tossed her cookies twice on the way. In spite of all this we still managed to make the trip in less than 10.5 hours.

Once we arrived I was showered with hugs and kisses and it continued that way until we left two weeks later. Grandpa, Grandma and all the aunts and cousins refused to let me lie flat... I was always held - which I absolutely loved. We spent Christmas day in a pretty low key fashion because we would be celebrating with the whole family on Sunday in Okoboji.

On Saturday after Christmas we packed up again and headed to Clarion, IA where we met with Grandpa's mom and brother and sister and their families at Dad's favorite place - the Pizza Ranch! I met most of these people for the first time and they were really nice and liked to hold me a lot also. Following that party we headed to Okoboji to begin our week of fun there.

In Okoboji we stayed at the Village West Resort complex and had an apartment for each family - except Julie was with Grandpa and Grandma... so we had four units (one for Andrew and Jenness & kids, one for Barry and Joni & kids, one for Mom and Dad & me & cousin Maggie, and one for Grandpa and Grandma & Julie). It was really fun... I got to swim for the first and only time so far - I really enjoyed the water.

On Sunday (Christmas for us) we went to church and then to the pool and opened our gifts after everyone finished swimming. I liked the gifts part, but how exhausting, I ended up falling asleep and Mom opened my gifts for me...she told me all about it later!

Guess what, I ended 2008 in grand style... On December 31st, I was in the emergency room in Spencer, IA! That's right, with all the excitement of the holidays, I ended up picking up not only some great new gifts, but also an upper respiratory virus. Mom and Dad were worried that I had contracted RSV, but much to our relief, that test turned up negative. However, the following three or four days were pretty scary for Mom and Dad since I sounded pretty sick (a lot of wheezing and congestion). I was as charming as always though. Through the wheezing and sneezing I was still able to smile at and entertain the Dr's and nurses in the ER - I think they purposefully took a little longer to get the test results so that they could hang out with me a little longer!

Following the fun in Okoboji, we headed back to Orange City and took it easy for the rest of the weekend until it was time to leave on Monday. The trip back to Colorado was another good one... this time we were all in good health and the only hiccup is that Nebraska is too boring!

So we're back at home. Since our return we've found that high winds have damaged the shingles on the roof of the house well as blown down several portions of our fence around our yard. We have to watch Boscoe very closely now when we let him out to go potty so that he doesn't make a break for it!

Yesterday we also watched intently as the news kept us abreast on the details of a brush fire near Boulder... pretty scary stuff... fortunately no one was hurt and the property damage was smaller than first anticipated.

Pictures from our vacation to Iowa:

Here I am flyin' high at Grandpa and Grandma's house

This is Mom and me with Great Grandma at the Pizza Ranch in Clarion

My cousin Erin loves babies - Erin will be two on January 19th
I get all of my clothes from Erin - it works out to my advantage
There was a king size bed in our room... I took up the whole thing, there was no room for Mom or Dad - the Pack 'n' Play just wouldn't cut it for me.
This is Grandma and me just before we ventured into the water... Grandma was confident, but I was unsure.
I think I got the hang of it - I was on the verge of enjoyment - I ended up falling asleep in my floaty toy later in the afternoon - the water is very relaxing!
Aunt Jenness, Julie and Grandpa are so silly - they can't fit through there!
Here's Mommy opening my Christmas gifts while Dad held me as I slept.
Grandpa's pretty comfy.
Here's a picture of Mommy and her sisters and mom after an evening at the pool and hanging out together.
(left to right): Aunt Jenness, Mom, Grandma, Aunt Julie, Aunt Joni

Those were just a sampling of the 286 pictures taken during my holiday break in Iowa.
We had such a good time... I hope we'll do it again next year!

Happy New Year everyone!
Love, Lydia

A December to Remember

Hi friends and family,

I have so many things to talk about that I can't remember what I should write.

Can you believe that I shall soon celebrate my first Christmas? I'm so excited. I've heard from some that I should expect gifts, but all I've been hearing from Mom and Dad is about this big trip to Iowa and whether or not the road conditions will cooperate - Mom and Dad plan for us to leave on Monday because that looks like our best weather day for the next week. We'll be spending two whole weeks with Mom's family! I told my parents that if we're going to be making a 10.5 hour trip, we'd better make it worth while by taking some extra time.

Well that's what's coming up, but you probably want to know what I've been dabbling in over the past week or so. It turns out that I really like Christmas trees and lights as well as sparkly-wrapped packages - I've been spending some quality time staring at the tree.

See what I mean, I love all the twinkling going on this time of year.

Unfortunately, this is one of Daddy's gifts... I guess I'll have to wait until Christmas for mine.

It was really cold here the other day, otherwise I thought I'd only have to wear my big snow suit in Iowa. As you can tell, I don't have a lot of wiggle room in this big fella.

On Monday we celebrated Dad's birthday, he turned 32... I can't imagine being that old. To celebrate we had my six month evaluation with my Occupational Therapist and my case worker in the morning and then went out for an "early bird" birthday dinner for Dad at his favorite steak house. And, yes Aunt Joni, Mom made Dad a birthday cake in addition to all the other cakes we've got hanging around - sadly they do get eaten... Mom usually looks at the piece of cake she cuts for herself and says, "I really shouldn't," but does anyway.

This is us at the Steak House.... not too many people around there at 2:00pm.

I can't wait until I get to celebrate with steaks - that looks way better than rice cereal!
"Daddy, may I try some?"

Mommy had a little trouble spelling "birthday" so she had to improvise. The coffee is to signify that Daddy is finally growing up - it is a bit doctored up.

Another headline for this blog is that I had a cardiologist appointment today. Guess how much I weigh..... If you guessed 13lbs 12oz, you got it right and should reward yourself with your very own cake! Even though I don't get to eat the cakes myself, some of the calories seem to make their way to me so that I can get beefier. More good news from the cardiologist was that I don't have to wear oxygen when I'm out in Iowa and we can do a trial run of no O's once we're back from the frozen Midwest. Everyone agreed today that I look great and I seem to be back to my old pleasant personality. The Dr. also said that it looks like the leak in my left ventricle seems a bit smaller than it was a month ago.... that's great news!!!

Just me and Boscoe hangin' out, watchin' some tv.

Hope you all have a wonderful holiday season. Blog at you soon!
Love, Lydia

6 months of cake

Hello friends and family,

I am 6 months old today. That's 1/2 of a year for those that are good with numbers. Six months and so many milestones equals a whole lot of cake and celebrations. Today is another one of those milestones of time and we celebrate with another cake. We went the non traditional route with this one and Mom made me a brownie cake in the shape of a number six.

Here are a few pictures of what I have been up to since I last blogged.

I have learned to eat all by myself... just kidding, but I can hold a spoon for a little bit.

We went to Colorado Springs on Saturday to see my Grandparents' new house, this time on the inside. We had a nice dinner with then in their new kitchen. We also met with my friend Kristi for my 6 month pictures that we are looking forward to getting back in a week or so.

Grandma time is good fun.

There is a nice neighborhood park with s swing just across the road. We looked both ways and then crossed the street. Its never too early to practice good habits.

Mom and Dad put up our outside Christmas lights while the weather was nice this weekend. Can you find me in my big winter suit?

Here I am with Dad. Can you see me better in this picture?

I am telling Mom to light my six candles on my number 6 brownie cake. Pretty cool eh?

Yeah she lit them and they sang to me. I'm so happy!

Check it out!

Boscoe says "Um can I get some brownie too? Um okay, Merry Christmas (using you best Boscoe voice)"

I'm Thankful for....

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I just wanted to give you all a short list of what I'm thankful for:

1. A loving and healing God
2. Health and Strength
3. Mommy and Daddy
4. All of my friends and family who pray for me everyday

I think I'll just stop there, because my list could go on and on!!

We had a lovely day today, just relaxing at home and then heading down to my Aunt Lauren's Mom and Dad's house for Thanksgiving dinner and fun times with all of the others in attendance there. Man I'm tired... I think that tryptophan is airborne because even though I was not allowed a single bite of turkey, I slept through the entire meal. I was a little perturbed that no one bothered to wake me even for stuffing, but Mom and Dad secretly enjoyed me not needing to be held during the meal - they ate like champs!

Mom shows me off as I sport my cool turkey outfit - it says, "Thankful for Mommy"
I even have matching turkey socks!

I don't know if you can read it, but just to make Dad feel a little more loved, Mom put my "I love Daddy" onesie under my turkey clothes.

This week has been pretty busy with everyday life and with some out of the ordinary stuff as well. Last Saturday we got to go see my grandpa and grandma's new house in Colorado Springs (dad's mom and dad - just to clarify). It's really nice and Dad and Uncle Jason are going down to help them get moved in tomorrow since the closing was on Wednesday. I wanted to help, but Mom and Dad think I'm too little, so Mom and I will hang out at home instead - bummer!

Here's the outside of Grandpa and Grandma's new house. Mommy and I and Uncle Jason and Grandpa are checking out the house.

Mom and Dad left me on the doorstep of G'pa and G'ma's new house.... fortunately, they were back in seconds to pick me up!

G'pa and G'ma took all of us out for lunch at Red Robin after looking at the house. From left to right are: G'ma and G'pa, Uncle Jason, Aunt Lauren, Daddy and me.

Mom's still trying to fatten me up... she tried to feed me a french fry!

I tried something new this week... I tried to eat with a spoon. I'm going to stress the word "tried" once more because this is a work in progress! Mom reassured me that no one gets it the first time and that she would not get mad at me for the messes I make during my efforts.

What is this stuff... it's like my usual food, but it has lumps in it!!

I just thought Mom and Dad should see how ridiculous they look while coaxing me to eat with a spoon.

You know... I think this would work just as well if you put it in my bottle!

That's about all I have for now.
Love you and I hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving!

Picture pages, picture pages, lots of fun with picture pages!

Hey everyone. I don't have too many updates so I thought I'd just share some pictures with you all. The one health item I have to share is that I took my last dose of Lasix (strong diuretic) today and I really didn't like that one, so I'm excited about that.

As for the pictures, here we go:

Last Saturday Mom and I went to a flag football game that Dad was playing in - it was a bit chilly, so I needed my stylin' hat.

My shirt was a little tight. When Mom was taking it off, it pulled my eyebrows up! For those of you looking into getting a face lift - this could be the non-surgical answer.

I'm starting to practice my sitting. This orange chair really helps me in my efforts.

Every once in a while, I need to sit back and think.... "Really - you expect me to believe that?"

These next pictures are a progression of how I like to move around my toys - keep in mind that I don't crawl or roll all the way over right now!

I haven't really gotten far here, but Mom thought this was a cute photo.

This is about as far as I go.

And now I head back towards my fun toys.

I shared a funny story with Dad and we both had to throw our heads back and laugh!

That's all for now.
I hope you enjoyed the pictures.
Hope you all have a blessed Thanksgiving!
Love, Lydia

Happy 5 months!

Hello friends and family.

As always there is a lot to report. My Mom and Dad always have so much fun with me. On Thursday night we all headed over to Scott and Andrea's house to watch the Broncos game and hang out. I am glad to say that the magic of my cheer leading outfit has inspired the Broncos to win. Every time I have worn it for the whole game they have won. I don't think my Dad is going to forget to have me in my gear before the next game.

On Saturday I turned the wise old age of five months. I celebrated the event by going out to dinner with my Mom and Dad and my Aunt Lauren and Uncle Jason. We had a good time and returned to the house afterwards for a cake my Mom made. How else would my parents celebrate such an occasion. Unfortunately we did not get a picture of the cake until a good portion of it had been consumed.

The celebration aftermath.

Sunday afternoon we went down to see Molly and her friend Chris. My parents are not the best with getting pictures even though they know that I could use them in my blog. So I am going to apologize on their behalf for not having a picture of me with Molly and Chris. We did have a good time seeing Molly's new place and catching up with her. It had been a little while since we had hung out. I like Molly a bunch and I hope that we will hang out again soon.

On Monday we went to see my cardiologist. Things went very well and I only need to have my oxygen on while I take long naps and for sleep at night. Mom can attest to the fact that I don't really take long naps so I really only need it at night. This was a good thing to hear from the doctor. I was also told that I could come off the Lasix all together on Friday 11/21. My chest x-ray looked good and it seems the fluids are all but gone from around my lungs. I am still hoping that I will be completely off the oxygen for our trip to Iowa for Christmas. My cardiologist seemed to think that this was very possible and that the Iowa air would be enough in its self to keep me happy while I sleep. We will have another appointment in a month so we will learn more then. All in all it was a very good appointment and the cardiologist is very happy with my progress and healing. Thanks for all of the prayers for this to happen everyone.

I have started to pay more attention to my buddy Boscoe and I think he really likes me. As soon as I get old enough to sneak him a treat every now and then I think he will start to pay more attention to me.

Come here Boscoe!

Good boy Boscoe!

I do have a bit of sad news to report. It turns out that Boscoe suffered some kind of a cut on his tail. Mom and Dad noticed that he was biting at his tail but did not think too much of it for about a week. Mom took a closer look and found that there was a pretty good sized wound. Boscoe needed his annual shots anyway so he went to the vet to have it looked at. The vet had to shave some hair off to investigate the situation. It did not seem to be infected but Boscoe has a bare patch on his tale that he is a little self conscious about. I'm sure he will be fine.

Boscoe's white spot on his tale.

Boscoe is a little bummed out.

Other than that we have been just doing our normal thing and hanging out. Life is very good and God is great.

Extreme close-up!

Love,
Lydia