Emerson's Blessing Day

The day started with Emerson's daily bath - of course, both his mommy and daddy were helping with that daily ritual - and the top picture is how they do it.  It's really quite funny to watch the process.
Lexi made an adorable white vest on a  long sleeved onesie for his blessing outfit - and it was the cutest.  He looked so handsome for his special day.
Lexi's parents, Ralph and Caroline Hockley were able to come from Carrolton for the special day.  They are not members of the church, but very much love Lexi and Jordan and their little family.  They try to be as involved and concerned about all their comings and goings and give support and love in areas of importance.  It was so good of them to come.
Our family friend, Chris Colegrove, Kylie's ex and Jordan's good friend, also came, along with Sean and Becky.  We left all invitations up to Jordan and Lexi - plus, our family is very private and simple, so the fewer, the better.
Jordan did an excellent job on the blessing - beautiful promises and blessings - I was very proud of him.  It was a special moment.
So, Emerson is official...Emerson Warren Lott - on the records of the church and throughout his life..

Water and Fun in the Sun

The weather is taking a turn for the better.
In fact, the past week has been beautiful and the kids all came over this weekend to take advantage of all the fun at our house.  We spent hours and hours of playing outside, getting wet, jumping on the trampoline, playing with toys and the eating a great barbecue steak dinner.  The kids went home exhausted...Del and I went to bed...exhausted!

Updates on 'Nana's' Babies

Emerson Warren at one month old.

Preston teaching Madi her numbers.

All dressed up and places to go!!

These are my three babies.

They are growing up so fast I can barely believe it.  Preston is so sweet with Madi.  His little personality has changed a little bit since they moved from their house and into an apartment.  He's a little more...hm...I'm trying to find the right words.  At his home, he was active, inquisitive and loved to explore and play.  At his apartment, he is more reserved - confined and not very playful anymore.  He fears more things now - I don't know why.  When he comes out here to our house, it takes him longer to want to do fun and new things - we have to coax him more to try and play.  Hopefully, this summer, he'll feel more comfortable playing and getting back to his old, fun self.

Madi is adorable.  I don't have a favorite, but if I did, it would be Madi.  I don't know why, but I feel so connected to her.  She makes me laugh - she's starting to say words - 'please' , 'baby', 'bear', 'mama', 'dada', 'papa' and a few others.  She loves to read and knows that when she sees Nana, that she can bring me a book and I'll read to her.  And she talks - and when she talks, she does so with her hands - SO expressive.  Kylie is just now starting to realize what a 'gem' she has in this sweet daughter she has.  Too many sleepless nights and tired days didn't allow Kylie to see that Madison was truly going to be the light of her life.

And Emerson?  He's already a month old - 4 weeks yesterday.  Can you believe that?  And look at him...he's Jordan all over again.  Sometimes when I am holding him, I can remember Jordan's face and see similarities that are uncanny.  Especially his eyes - and mouth when he purses his lips.  And he's a good baby.  Only fusses when he is hungry or getting his diaper changer, neither of which he likes at all.  Lexi has been nursing beautifully and Emerson seems to be growing really nicely. He's loving all the attention he's getting from Papa, his momma and especially his daddy.  Jordan has set me back on my heels a little bit by really stepping up to the plate and being the father I could have only hoped he would be.  He adores Emerson - I have to BEG to have a turn to hold him.  I will find Jordan reading to Emerson, hear him singing to him in the other room and talking to him in the quiet of the night.  Emerson is loved more than he'll ever know.  He will be blessed on the 30th of this month.

More updates as they happen.

'All Work and SOME Play'

When Del goes to Boston on business, he is usually so swamped with so much work, that he most often gets back to the hotel at about 10:30 every night and hardly has time to even call me.  But this trip, the whole team had a night that they got to go play - more specifically, they went go-carting, and Del said it was a blast.
I'm so glad he got to have an evening of fun and relaxation.  A fun way to let go of the stress of the day.

We Have Renters

Due to inclement weather, the chicken condominium is on hold.  But that hasn't stopped the chickens from outgrowing the doghouse that we have had them in for the past month.  So, we have had to build an intermediate apartment for our twelve renters.  It took Del and I about 30 minutes to get it done and now, the chicken have plenty of room to grow until we get the coop finished, hopefully within a week or two.
Fun little renters...they even left us a deposit - or two.

Keeping The E.R Busy

Kathryn called me a week ago on her way home from work.
She was screaming so loudly that I could barely tell who it was and certainly, could not understand what she was saying.  She was crying in extreme pain.  She could barely drive, thought she was going to die and wondered what to do.  I told her to take of 1600 North and go straight up to the hospital to the E.R.
Two hours later, an MRI, a morphine drip and a urine sample, we have ourselves dealing with two kidney stones, that will most likely be, the only grandchildren Kathryn will EVER give me.  Her urine had a lot of blood in it, which also indicated a terrible infection - so she has had a fairly miserable week.  Last night, she finally when back to the ER because the pain was, once again, so bad that she could no longer tolerate it. A scan showed that the stones had probably passed that morning, but she has a damaged kidney with a pretty bad kidney infection.  More medication and I have not yet heard from her today.
My heart has gone out to her as she has felt very homesick, in unfamiliar pain and discomfort and no-body there to take care of her, that she feels comfortable with.  But now that I hope she is somewhat, stabilized, I'm hoping she can get back to work and then get to church to make herself some friends.  My sister, Rachel, has been kind enough to keep in touch with Kathryn and has offered good advice and given a listening ear, of which Kathryn has been very grateful.  I hate being so far away in times like this.  Kathryn just needs a hug from her momma.
Rebecca's husband, Lance, had open heart surgery about three weeks ago, but last night, he ended up in the ER also with a blood clot that had landed in his lung.  Pretty serious and pretty scary, as he will now have to be on blood thinners the rest of his life...and he too, was in a lot of pain.  This is all on top of he and Becca being informed that Lance's father probably only has two weeks to live.  Hopefully, Lance will be able to go home today.  Becca needs a little comfort at about this point, as her past few weeks have been an over load of stressful.  I pray for her.
Hopefully, this next week will be a little better in the ER flow of things.
Can't wait to get these future bills.

Chicken Coop and Monkies in My Bed

"Dear Diary..."

Forty one years ago today, I was 13 yrs old, in the 8th grade going to Valley Jr. High School.
My best friend was Julie Baur - and had been since kindergarten.
My boy friend was Stephen Charles Kistler, and had been since 5th grade.
Of course, I had a crush on Kevin Shields and had since first grade.
And, when I say boyfriend, I mean, we had crushes on each other and wrote each other notes back and forth at school.
The reason I remember the day - Mar 6th?  It's because that was Steve's birthday - and it's the day, in the 8th grade, that I started writing in my Diary.  And I've been writing ever since.
It was actually 'Dear Diary' at the time - in a book that actually had 'Diary' written on the front and had a lock on the side of it that had a key to open it.  I kept the key in my top drawer next to my underwear.
And I wrote every secret in it that I had ever had.  My Diary was told everything. It would have been death had my parents found it.  I wasn't allowed to have a boyfriend - I wasn't allowed to wear my skirts rolled at the waist to make them shorter in length - I wasn't allowed to read Barbara Cartland romance novels, although I spent most of my paychecks from the Dental office on buying anywhere from 5-6 new volumes a week.  I literally had 100's of them in my locker at school.  Of course, my Diary knew all that.
Today is Stephen's birthday.  I have wondered for YEARS what happened to Steve.  He graduated from High School early and left Carlsbad before I had even graduated.  And right after graduation, I left for BYU. I've never seen Steve since.  I've asked his family about him, even looked him up on the internet but had found nothing over the years - until a couple of weeks ago.  I found him in California, a little north of Carlsbad - married and with children.  I wrote down an address and phone numbers that were provided and tucked the piece of paper into my purse.
I almost called him today to wish him a happy birthday.  But I didn't.  More than a boyfriend growing up, I considered him a friend.  He was slightly inactive, mostly because of his parents divorce situation and then his mom being a single mother and not wanting to come to church.  I have found out that his sister, MaryBeth died. (I don't know why or how) and so did his step brother.  I think he's still married - I guess I just wonder still how he is and what he's doing.
BUT....the last time I wondered about an old boyfriend, he contacted me years later and I'm still paying the consequences for THAT move!
Better to leave things alone...
Happy Birthday Steve Kistler -
and Happy Birthday 'Dear Diary'.