Wednesday art card donation for charity

Wednesday art card donation for Stampadoodle.  Watercolor paper, acrylic paints, watercolors, ribbon.

Kyler...eyes wide open 10-24-09

The Trike...after chrome

The Four Agreements

My life is great, husband, children, grandbaby, family, friends, but every once in awhile you hit a few bumps and it causes you to step back and try to figure out how to get make things right in your world.  My son Michael sent me this excert from the book The Four Agreements.  A friend shared this with him when he was having a few bad days.


1. Be Impeccable With Your Word

Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.

2. Don't Take Anything Personally
Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won't be the victim of needless suffering.

3. Don't Make Assumptions
Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.

4. Always Do Your Best
Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.

Baby Kyler

Kyler is now 5 pounds, nursing from a bottle, wearing t-shirts, sleeping in an open bassinet, and had his air tube removed.  He does not like being burped.  He is healthy, happy, and his mom and dad can hardly wait until he can leave the NICU unit and they can take him home.

My heart is in Las Vegas with my grandson Kyler, my daughter Kelly, and my son-in-law Kyle and art is sort of the last thing I have been thinking about is art.

Scrapbooking is not my comfort level but due to unforseen events, it looks like I am back to designing the scarpbook pages for the girls at GRADS.  I havea to give the Mt. Baker Chapter Harley Owners Group Ladies of Harley a big thank you for supporting the GRADS program by donating the money to purchase the scrapbook materials each month for 18 girls.  Their teacher Patty has told me I need to do a page for Kyler each month like she does for her twin grandson.  Maybe this will motivate me to  get more creative.  I hope.

I'll post a picture after we have our class in two weeks. 

Baby Kyler

Kyler is now 4 pounds 11 ounces.  He is starting to learn to nurse from a bottle and may soon be moved to an open bassinet.  He is healthy, happy, and growing. 

Please keep Kyler and his mom and dad in your prayers.

Happy 1 Month birthday Kyler

10-1-09

Home again. I’m packed, all the last minute things you throw in a suitcase. I’m ready…sort of. Kelly asked me to sit on the sofa and snuggle with her before I need to leave. It takes everything I have inside of me to hold back the tears but my voice cracks when I try to talk. I stay as long as I possibly can before kissing my baby girl good-bye and one last hug. I can’t cry, I can’t cry, I can’t cry. I need to see where I am driving.

Traffic isn’t too bad on the I-15 freeway and soon I arrive at the hospital. Baby Kyler is finishing his feeding and is warm and snug in his bassinet. I reached in to touch his cheek with my finger tips and then cup his head with my hand. He never stirs. I read “Goodnight Moon” to him then just stand watching the new man in my life, who has stolen my heart. His nurse talks with me and says what a good baby Kyler is. Feed him, change him, read to him, talk to him, and he is good. He is healthy and doesn’t require constant monitoring like some of the babies in the NICU unit. Kyler was so peaceful I couldn’t bear to open the bassinet to kiss the top of his head. Instead I kissed my finger tips and placed them on his head. I did this three times, once for great grandmother Breshears, once for grandpa Larry, and one for me, grandma.

I called Kelly to tell her I was leaving the hospital and that Kyler was perfect, just waiting for his mom and dad to visit tonight. This is no much harder leaving this time. It will be 2 ½ months before I see them again. Kyler will be so big at Christmas.

I returned the care to the car rental building and took the shuttle to the airport. I checked in through security, took the tram to my gate and then I called Larry. I am sure he must have wondered if I would really come home. I love Larry, body and soul, forever and ever, but the little guy is tugging on my heart strings.

Kelly said we should just move to Vegas so we could be close to baby Kyler. Maybe I should have played the slot machines while I was in Vegas and we could have retired in style. Maybe Larry should buy stock in Alaska Airlines.

The stewardess on the plane saw my tears and asked if I was okay. She brought me another napkin when I explained my tears and said she would pray for baby Kyler.

 

09-30-09 Wednesday

9-30-09 Wednesday


I took Kelly to the base hospital to take care of some of her insurance paperwork. Kyle called and said we could come out to the flight line to see where he works.

I saw the base commander on his way to pick up the Saudi prince, whose jet was sitting on the tarmac. The prince was going to get a personal tour of the base, just like me, well sort of. If anyone saw Top Chef in Las Vegas they had an episode at Nellis AFB this year and some of the people Kyle works with and the base commander were on the show. I saw the Blue Thunderbirds, the Red Horse Squadron, and way too many different types of jets and planes for me to remember. Kyle demonstrated with several of his co-workers a 60K tunner loader used to load and unload pallets of supplies onto the planes. It was fun to see where Kyle works and see how vast the base is.

Kelly and went to the hospital to see baby Kyler who was very content lying in his bassinet with a full tummy. He is now taking 35cc of milk. Kelly changed his diaper, took his temperature, and he slept thorugh it all. Kelly kissed him good-by and we left.

I dropped Kelly at Hooters Casino to take care of her work insurance paperwork and then we stopped at Lowe’s to find a few things to fix up the house. Kelly fixed salad and French bread for dinner.

When Kyle came home he had deep pink roses for Kelly. He is so sweet to her. And he had a card for me. Gotta love the boy. He loves my daughter, gave me a beautiful grandson, and calls me mom.

Kyle helped us hang the wooden letters spelling out Kyler’s name above his crib.

I checked in for my flight on line. I am taking Kelly’s wedding dress home with me to hang in her closet. Two suitcases, one inside the other. It all fits. Kyle came and gave me a kiss good-bye because he will leave for work before I get up in the morning.

09-29-09 Tuesday

09-29-09 Tuesday


Four weeks ago today, Kyler was born. Kelly and I went to the hospital early today to drop off more milk. They are increasing the amount they give Kyler every nine hours and fee him every three hours.

He looks so peaceful and rested. He tries to open his eyes when Kelly talks to him but sleep wins out. We stayed for about half an hour before we left.

Costco for groceries and then it was home for a rest.

Kelly and Kyle put Kyler’s crib together and grandma supervised. The new rug for Kyler’s room is down, the baby clothes are washed and put away just waiting for Kyler to come home.

We took a CPR class at the hospital tonight and the instructor also covered care seat installation.

Baby Kyler was stretching and looking at his mom and dad as Kyle read to him. Kelly ran her finger tips across his little head and down his cheek

Kyle changed Kyler’s diaper and the nurse took his temperature and weighed him. 4 pounds 3 ½ ounces. He is almost out of milk again so Kelly and I will make an early morning run again tomorrow.

The nurse swaddled Kyler up and let Kelly hold him for about 45 minutes. I left the three of them alone for a little while. I went back to the nursery and got to kiss baby Kyler goodnight on the top of his little head. 2 kisses. Sweet dreams baby boy.

Kyle has to be at work early so he went to bed and Kelly set up the diaper Jeannie and I took the stroller out of the box and she put the all pieces together. She likes putting things together and doing things for her son is important. Now all those cardboard boxes are in the garage waiting for recycle day next Monday.

Kyler - Monday 9-28-09

09-28-09 Monday


Today Kelly and I are shopped for the items that she still needs for baby Kyler. Sort of a whorl wind shopping circle around the North West section of Vegas. We stopped for lunch at Sweet Tomatoes, a salad, soup, and pasta bar then it was time to go home and rest.

We stopped at Target before going to the hospital when UPS called and said we needed to arrive at the UPS center by 8:30 PM if we wanted to pick up Kyler’s crib. There had been a mix-up in the shipping address and was taken to her old address. Kelly said “mom we have ten minutes so forget driving like a mom and grandmother and drive like you’re single”. About four miles in Vegas traffic, through the spaghetti bowl overpass (twist, turns, loops) across town and I got us there in twelve minutes. The agent was holding the door open and helped us load the crib into the car. Back to Target for a mattress and then the hospital.

Kyler finished all his milk Kelly brought to the hospital on Saturday. He is taking about 2 ounces every three hours for a total of 16 ounces a day. They are increasing his feedings every 9 hours. Kyler’s PICC line has also been removed.

I read “Goodnight Moon” to baby Kyler and then we left him swaddled up in his bassinet.

Diapers, wipes, washcloths, towels, changing table, bed, stroller, car seat, mom, dad….baby Kyler has it all and all he really needs is lots of love and that he has.

I love watching Kyle and Kelly with their son. They talk to him, touch him, sing to him, and he knows when they are with him.

09-27-09 The baby shower

09-27-09

When I picked up my rental car, they were out of full size cars, so they gave me a Dodge Journey SUV. Good thing because the back end is loaded with gifts. I dropped Kelly off at Kelly Walkers home and headed to Costco and Albertsons to get the food for the shower.

Let the party begin. We had lime sherbet punch, sandwiches, pizza, chips, dips, snacks, M&M’s, and Nikki made cupcakes with baby faces. There were about 15-16 at the shower, some of the girls had to work and couldn’t attend.

Nikki and Kim had games for everyone to play with the favorites, trying to find a safety pin in the bowl of rice (it’s not as easy as it sounds…no one won) and the all time favorite was trying to figure out which melted, smooshed up, candy bars was in each of the 6 diapers. Everyone laughed, joked, and Kelly wound up guessing all of them correctly.

Baby Kyler wound up getting just about everything he could possibly need. A stroller/car seat combination, pack and play (sort of like a cradle/playpen), diapers, clothes, bibs, diaper genie, more clothes. It took a little arranging to get everything in my SUV when we headed home.

Kelly asked Kyle to help me unload a few things when we got home. Needless to say he was a little overwhelmed when he saw what was inside the vehicle. The living room looks like they are just moving in with all the boxes and bags. Kelly showed Kyle everything they received at the shower. They were truly blessed today with kind and caring friends and family.

A short rest and we head off the hospital to see baby Kyler. He is now 4 pounds 2 ounces. The boy is on a growth spurt! Kyler is sleeping and Kelly is exhausted so we only stay about an hour at the hospital and then head home.

Kyler 9-26-09

09-26-09

I woke with a sinus headache on Saturday morning and couldn’t sleep in. 7:45 AM and I am wide awake. Vitamins, Tylenol, sinus medication, and Starbucks coffee in a bottle, I should be feeling better soon.

Kyle went to the gym and Kelly and I are going to go garage sale shopping today and see if we can find some fun things for Kyler. After a trip to Babies-R-Us and sticker shock, we need to find some bargains, and we did. A glider rocker for $25.00 and not $300.00. Kelly said Kyle would come through the door, see the rocker and that would be as far as he went. Good thing I didn’t bet with her, I would have lost.

Kelly and I drove to the airport to pick up Marissa’s husband Brian because she had to work and Brian was returning from a training mission.

Nap time.

4 pounds. Wow. How amazing. The doctor said Kyler is on his last bag of vitamins, fats, and nutrients and when it is gone they will see how well he does off of it. If he is okay, they remove his PICC line in about a week. They will then take Kyler off caffeine and see how he reacts. There was very little residual left from his previous feeding.

Kyler had his eyes open when we arrived, lying on his tummy. He really responds very quickly to Kelly and Kyle talking to him. He ties to lift his head and move around as he listens to them and feels them touch him.

I brought a new Golden Treasury book with about 10-12 stories so Kyle would have something new to read to Kyler. Kyle was excited to read a story to his son (The Seven Little Postmen) rhymed and made sense.

It was Saturday afternoon in Vegas so we used city streets to get to and from the hospital. Kyle had dinner out with a friend and Kelly and I made a quick trip to the mall to find something cute for her to wear to the baby shower tomorrow. Other than the fire alarm going off in the mall, starting to evacuate, sort of, she found a cute tank top and cardigan sweater.

We stopped for tacos on the way home and early to bed. Tomorrow is a big day.

Kyler 9-25-09

9-25-09




We slept in a little and made a stop at Starbucks on the way to the hospital. A full shot of caffeine for me, a pumpkin mocha for Kelly with less caffeine, and a no shot, caffeine free strawberry-banana smoothie for Kyle. A few short blocks away Kyler had already had his morning shot of caffeine.



Baby Kyler is sleeping on his side and begins to stir in his bassinet as mom and dad talk to him and touch him. Kyle reads “Oh The Places You’ll Go”, not his favorite book, but reading to his son is a priority. As I look at my son-in-law, I am thankful he loves my daughter and grandson as much as he does. I am also thankful to have Kyle as part of our family.



I cupped Kyler’s head in my hand as Kyle continues reading, then placed a kiss on my finger tips and touched the top of his head. Kyle gave Kyler his pacifier and he seem to do really well with it.



The nurse got Kyler for Kelly to hold him, kangaroo style (skin to skin). I left the new parents alone with their son to have some quiet family time.



Please continue to pray for all the babies in the NICU unit. So many of them were born younger than Kyler have had so many more problems, even some of the ones born closer to term, are not doing as well as he his.

Nap time for the adults so we headed home. Kelly and I ran a few errands later in the day while Kyle went to the gym. Kyle was home when we returned but had a nasty looking bruise on his left side and was pretty sore. We decided to stay home and watch a movie. We'll go tomorow when mom and dad both can go. 

Kelly and Kyle called the hospital to check on Kyler and track his progress. All is well with Kyler and it’s time for bed.

Kyler 9-24-09

9-24-09 Thursday


I’ve had my red bag packed for a week…well almost; I keep adding little things to it. The red bag is filled with baby shower gifts. Scout the talking-singing dog from Leap Frog that is pre-programmed to say Kyler’s name. Bath towels to match the colors in Kyler’s room, books, toys, clothes, gifts from Norma and Patty Karcher. There’s a scrapbook with a special page for Kyler already made and enough supplies to keep Kelly busy for a long time. And photo paper for the computer to fill up those scrapbook pages. The rental car is booked and I’m checked in online for my flight.

Tuesday evening our new Harley trike arrived at H-D Bellingham. We picked it up on get grab my leathers and we would go for a short ride before I left for the airport. It’s a little different riding and not seeing over the top of Larry’s helmet will probably be my biggest adjustment. The fact that Larry has had the trike less than 24 hours and wants to ride it everywhere is a major plus for changing bikes. This will take the stress off his bad knee. We didn’t have the new communication system figured out so we had to just talk loud with our helmets bumped up against each others heads. Larry will have all these little details figured out by the time I return.

Larry dropped me at the airport and left after I got my bag checked in and a boarding pass in hand. I always get a little nervous flying alone. Did I forget something? This time I need to get my rental care and drive from the south end of Las Vegas to Nellis Air Force Base, and do it at night in a construction zone. Getting the car back to the rental return will be the hardest task.

This is such a different trip today than 2 weeks ago. Instead of worrying about an emergency surgery and emergency transport teams, this visit is all about visiting and celebrations. I am so excited to see baby Kyler. I know at 3 pounds 10 ounces he is still tiny, but he is almost a pound more than the last time I saw him, 2 weeks ago.

I used my 30 day base pass and arrived at Kelly and Kyle’s house about 9:30 PM. I unloaded my bags and we headed to the hospital. The nurse fills us in on Kyler’s progress since the day before. He is now 3 pounds 14 ounces and he fills out his little body. Kelly thinks he would have been between 7 and 8 pounds if he had been full term. Kyler tried hard to keep his eyes open as mom and dad talked to him. Kelly held Kyler during his feeding. When it was Kyle’s turn to hold the baby, Kyler spit up on him.

Even if Kyler were not my grandbaby, he would still be a really cute baby. I like the way he scrunches up his forehead and makes little faces. Wonder what he dreams about? Kelly said he doesn’t really cry any more when he gets a blood test but take his temperature, change his diaper, or give him a bath and he can cry and let you know he’s mad. The little guy is tired and we are too. Sweet dreams Kyler.

Kyler...3 weeks

3 pounds 12 ounces
16 1/2 inches long

2010 Tri Glide...Our new ride!

Fall has arrived...

Lungs...Ihave lungs...I can cry!

September 20, 2009

Kyler is now 3 pounds 6 ounces and gaining. They are soon going to increase his milk to 2 ounces and deliver it by a pump over half an hour. Kelly said he knows something is up when they start taking his temperature, changing his diaper, and getting him ready for his feeding. Now they use a syringe and do a gravity flow to feed him. Kyler still is receiving air, not oxygen. He also receives his caffeine twice a day.

Kyler has discovered he has lungs. He can cry and make himself known to everyone in the nursery. Not the little squeaky cry in the beginning, three weeks ago, but a full cry. Kelly said she thinks he cries just to hear himself cry. I told her this is just another step in Kyler taking control of her life and Kyle’s and they lost the battle the day they first set eyes on him.

Kyle and Kyler...father and son bonding

September 18th, 2009

Baby Kyler is doing well. They have increased the amount of milk they are feeding him and he is digesting it well. He weighs over three pounds now and after his feedings he usually wants to take a long nap. His nurses all think Kyler is really cute and they take good care of him. The nurses are also really good at answering questions for Kelly and Kyle and giving them updates when they come to visit. Kyler really likes it when his mom and dad hold him and does not like to be put back in his bassinet.

The baby shower is a week from Sunday so grandma is flying back down for a week. I have a suitcase full of presents, some practical and some fun. I even have a new book for Kyle to read to Kyler. Can’t wait to see baby Kyler and how much he has grown since I left. I hope he remembers grandma’s voice.