Inaugural Mountain Adventure

So, I'm told that I will have lots of adventures in the mountains since Mom and Dad like to play there. I got my first taste of being a mountaineer last Wednesday when Mom and I headed up to Silverthorne, CO to hang out with Lisa for another day before she and Ryan headed back to NY (Ryan was snowboarding and Daddy was working - too bad for them that they didn't get to hang out with me).

I had to get special permission from my cardiologist to go because of the altitude and lack of O2 in the mountains. Thankfully Dr. Karrie thinks I'm doing well with my O2 levels and gave us the OK - as long as Mom kept a close eye on me and as long as we took an O2 tank with us.... just in case.

I can already tell that we're gonna have lots of fun in the mountains as a family in the years to come. Mom and Dad decided to purchase a backpack that I can ride in while they hike - since I'm still too little to walk - with a little more therapy and work, I hope to one day run up the mountains!

Here are some Photos of Lisa, Mom and I playing in the snow on the mountainside:

Lisa's a Physical Therapist - it was almost like having another OT session for the week!!
We played inside the cabin/mansion they stayed at.

All three of us posed here - what you don't see is the distance down on my left - Mommy had to hold on tight!!

Mommy and I have so much fun together - it was a little bright, I had to keep my eyes shut.

I got to stay dry in the snow while Mom and Lisa both had wet bums after this picture - I love my orange chair.

I just can't hold back my excitement and love for snow and mountains!
I'm pretty sure that I was secure in that spot, otherwise I would've slid down the slope in my sweet orange seat, right?

Well, I'm sure I'll be reporting on more mountain adventures this summer... we'll see about later in the spring.

Love,
Lydia

February Fun!

On the 15th of February I was baptized at Arvada Covenant Church. I had many of my friends and family attend my baptism and the subsequent parties that followed that afternoon. It was a great day. My dear friend Gena (Koen's Mom) sang a wonderful song that my uncle Andrew wrote. This was such a nice thing to have done on my big day.

Here are a few pictures of baptism Sunday:

Getting ready before baptism. Look at my cool pony tail.

I'm not nervous standing up in front of everyone.

Mom, Dad and me after the service.

Us with the grandparents.

My buddy Koen and me.

This past weekend we had Lisa and Ryan out from New York and Val and Jer out from G-Junction for a little visit. The weather was great and we go to play outside a bit. There were a few flowers coming up in our front garden. A perfect chance for a photo op.

Look at the beautiful flowers.

I just can't stop looking at the flowers.

Is that flower for me?

Me and the gals.

After all of that fun it's time to just hang out on the couch and play with my buddy Boscoe and his fluffy tail.

Thanks for reading my blog and for your fun comments. Blog at you later.

Love,
Lydia

The big 8!

Eight months that is. Once again it has been a few weeks since I was last able to sit down and blog at you all. Sorry about that, it's been pretty busy around here.

Since the last posting we have celebrated Mom's birthday, my eighth month mark and are looking forward to celebrating my baptism with family and friends. Mom got a camcorder for her birthday. This is very nice to have to capture all of the moments when I'm doing new things and big events, like baptism.

Last weekend was non stop activity. On Friday we met up with my Uncle Jason and Aunt Lauren at Old Chicago's pizza. Laurens parents were there also and were taking care of Oliver and Noah (Lauren's sister Ellen's two boys). Oliver and I had some fun getting to know each other.

On Saturday Dad took Mom to the Boulder Dinner Theatre to celebrate her birthday and I got to spend the evening with my friends Paul and Heather. We had a fun time and I hardly noticed that Mom and Dad were not around for a good 5 hours.

On Sunday after church we all headed down to the Garden and Home show with Scott and Andrea. There were so many things to see. Dad seemed a little overwhelmed with the possibilities of home improvements and landscaping ideas. We must have walked a couple of miles seeing all of the exhibits. Well, I did not walk but I strolled around and was also carried for some of the time. It was a good time.

On Sunday night Mom baked me a cake for my 8th month birthday on the 8th. Crazy that we celebrate an event like this with a cake don't you think. This was a prime time to get the new camcorder out for a little footage of me and my eight cake.

My big 8 cake!

I want a piece of that.

Let's have some cake.

I cannot wait for my Grandma and Grandpa E to get here this weekend. I am also very excited to see my Aunt Julie and Aunt Jenness as well. I am so glad that they are going to make the trip to join me for my baptism.

We also have so many other things to look forward to this month. We have a baby shower for Aunt Lauren, my friend Sam will be having his 1 year birthday party, my friends Lisa and Ryan are coming out from New York and Val and Jer out from Grand Junction for a ski trip and are planning to spend a day or so with us, and who knows what else. All I know is that I am looking forward to it all.

On Monday I visited my cardiologist Dr. Karrie. This was my monthly check up and things went pretty well. I weighed in at 15lbs 7oz and I had a 100% pulse oxygen saturation! I had an echocardiogram and they determined that the residual VSD (the hole in the lower part of my heart) that remained after surgery is starting to close up and there was a significant decrease in the leak since my last visit. Dr. Karrie said that she could hardly hear the murmur with a stethoscope due to the hole. Praise the Lord for this.

The reason I say pretty good and not great for the check up is that there is still reason for the Dr's to think that I am having a little too much pressure on my lungs (can lead to pulmonary hypetension) based on their tests. I am going to need to have an at home test done to see what my pulse oxygen saturation levels are during the night when I am sleeping. Dr. Karrie also mentioned that they may want me to stay overnight in the hospital in the near future for a more extensive sleep study. I am gald that my Dr's are weighing on the side of caution and trying not to let anything sneak by that may cause problems later down the road. Thanks for your continued prayers for healing of my heart.

That's it for now. I love you all very much!

Me in '09

Howdy friends!

Well, I am feeling great these days and just going about my everyday activities. I am getting to explore the world of foods. Mom has me eating a variety of fruits and vegetables in addition to my regular formula. I really like the orange foods but I am open to all of them. Below is a picture that shows how much I like my carrots.

I have a carrot nose and lips, yum!

I am a lot more vocal these days and I thought you might like to get an idea of what my little voice sounds like.


Here are a couple of videos, one of me telling a story and one of me whistling with Daddy:

Telling a story or two.

"Whistling" with Dad.

Mom and Dad finally set a date for my baptism and we'll be doing that on February 15th because that's when Grandpa and Grandma can make it out from Iowa.... we're hoping that some of the uncles, aunts and cousins can make it out from Iowa too, but that's a lot to ask.

Well, keep up those resolutions and I'll be in touch soon!
Love,
Lydia

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)"