Cheating... a bit...

I'm going to copy and paste the same message on the blog that I just left on my facebook page, along with a few photos...

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Thank you all for the emails, voice mails and facebook messages. We so appreciate all of the good thoughts and best wishes... No news just yet, but we will certainly post an announcement and photos once babe #2 has made his arrival. I have my 38 week OB appt tomorrow... Right now, all's well, I feel good, the baby is doing great and we are very ready and excited to meet the newest member of our family. I'm about to post a few photos... an "almost 38 weeks" belly shot (per several requests), a shot of sweet O in the bubble baths we share regularly and one of Dutchy riding in the back of the new double-seater, Burley bike/cross-country trailer that we received from our families for Christmas.

Happy Holidays from our neck of the woods...

Since the last posting...

We had a lovely, four day, relaxing Thanksgiving with Mac and Margery in sunny Bend, Oregon. It was such a treat to spend so many quiet days with them, enjoying good food, conversation, watching football (well, Margery and I were not as involved in the latter). A few days earlier, we had a fun turkey day celebration with Leslie, Herb, GG Mimi, Jen, Megan, Mary, Steve, Kathryn, Kevin and Lillian on Bainbridge Island.

Owen came down with his first major virus just before we left for Bend. He probably picked this up at Holly Ridge when he had his oral/motor feeding evaluation. He had a temperature of 103 and ended up with congestion and a cough. Kelsey and I both caught the bug and it hung around our house for three weeks, ushering us into our busy holiday season at GFC. With repeated coughing bouts lasting 1-2 hours, Kelsey spent a few nights on the couch as his hacking was so severe that it would shake the bed like a major earthquake. As is the case with kids like Owen, although he defied the odds and handled the cough/congestion just fine, the virus caused a substantial spike in his seizure activity and for the first two weeks of December, we struggled to get these back under control. Our saving grace ended up being the addition of MCT oil to his diet, nightly doses of Melatonin and a strict nap/sleep schedule. It was a rough few weeks, but by Christmas he was back to his (mostly) cheery self.

O actually has pudgy cheeks, legs and arms! I love that there is so much more of him to hold and cuddle. He loves to look at his high contrast board books by Peter Linenethal (Look Look! and Look at the Animals) that cousin Jen got for him a couple of months ago. They are perfect for where he is at in his visual development. We sit him on our lap, open these up and he gets wide-eyed, scanning the pages, devouring the high contrast images. We also now have a fun game that we play called "spiderhand." With O on his side or back, we wiggle our fingers a couple of feet above his head, moving our hand from side to side as he tracks it, slowly bringing it closer to his face while saying, "Here comes spiderhand." He loves it and smiles repeatedly in anticipation - a new development for him. We then bop the tip of his nose as spiderhand reaches his face. This usually produces a BIG smile. This might seem very basic for an 18 month old, and it is on the "typically developing child" charts, but for Owen, it is a wonderful achievement.

Kelsey very successfully managed another busy - fortunately, given the economy, even busier than last year - holiday season at Grounds for Change. Our staff was amazing and it was so nice for me to be able to have the flexibility to help out for a couple of weeks during our busiest time. We've been spending much of our vacation (during the annual GFC closure from the 24th through the 4th), sleeping in late, lounging in bed with O and spending time with family on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We did get an opportunity to have an adult overnight (DATE!) in the city on Sunday/Monday. Janet and Coop (Grandma and Grandpa Chalupa) did a practice run for when O's brother is born and took Owen overnight while Kelsey and I treated ourselves to a stay at the Inn at the Market and dinner with our friends, Sara and Joe.

We woke up early Monday morning to our water view of ferries coming into Seattle and the lit "Public Market" sign ready to greet the few who ventured out into the city between these two major holidays. We were scheduled to be at our ultrasound appointment at 9:00 am to peek in on O's brother at 34 weeks with a f/u OB appointment at 10 am. Although I've only gained 20 pounds, I've been telling everyone that I feel like I am growing a giant. Well, indeed... the radiologist had to come in afterwards to confirm the technician's measurements. We were a bit nervous at first, not knowing why he was doing this, and so asked what was going on. He proceeded to tell us that the baby's numbers were well above average, telling us that the measurements coincided with a 37 to 38 week old baby versus a 34 week baby. The head circumference, abdominal measurements, etc put this guy in at the 87th percentile. I laughed and said that I didn't know if this was a blessing or a curse. The radiologist and our OB doctor said that they only thing this indicates is that this little one is growing well. Our OB doctor said to plan on keeping the 8th of February (versus the 13th) as the due date. Based on this, I've only got 5 weeks left to go - thank goodness. All other measurements - blood flow through the cord/placenta, amniotic fluid levels - looked great as well.

I've posted some photos from the last month on Smugmug. These include some photos of the beautiful snow we had just in time for Christmas.

We love to hear from all of you and have appreciated the holiday cards and letters. Leave us a comment or send an email (srm@tiny-giant.com).

We hope that your holidays are great and that all of you have been able to cuddle your babies and enjoy your families.

Peace and love in the New Year,

Stacy, Kelsey and Owen

We knew he could do it!

Owen had his oral/motor feeding evaluation today at Holly Ridge, the EI center that he is enrolled in. He did FABULOUS! He was calm and happy - even during and after D., the speech therapist, used a rubber toothbrush in his mouth while she held him still (to gage his oral sensitivity). He has recently LOVED to have his teeth brushed so the fact that he did so well was not much of a surprise to me. I thought perhaps that he might feel a bit cheated since the toothbrush did not have the yummy, Weleda kids mint toothpaste on it, but if he did, he certainly didn't make a fuss about it. I did feel there was a good chance he would become unhappy when placed in their "feeder" chair, in a room that was foreign to him with sounds of very active toddlers emanating from the hallway. But he was a champ and smiled a couple of times at us before we even got started on the feeding part...

Just like at home, he opened up like a little bird each time I showed him the spoon and tapped him on his lower lip with it while saying "open" and "more." He happily took several spoons of applesauce (with butter) and marinara sauce (with lots of garlic and olive oil, of course). And as he typically does, he even smiled a couple of times after the marinara sauce. That's our boy. Yes, O loves food and the more garlic, the better. D. did note a "weak swallow," something that we assumed was the case given his CP and low trunk tone. Fortunately, according to D., this ability can be improved upon over time with practice. She was not worried about it too much because he swallowed several times with each "bite," swallowing all of his food, slowly, and not spitting any of it out. He is indeed very thorough and careful (and tidy) when he eats. D. said he did excellent - much better that she anticipated he would given how long it has been since he's taken the majority of his food orally - and that she was surprised at how much he enjoyed the food and how calm he was during the evaluation. She was very happy that there was no feeding aversion and no choking, coughing or noticeable aspiration.

Since aspiration can be "silent," before moving on to substantial oral feedings, and per the neurologist's request (he will not "approve" oral feedings or release oral feeding recipes that adhere to the ketogenic diet until we move forward with the next step), we will have a swallow study done at Children's Hospital in the Spring. D. explained the process to me today - they mix barium into a couple of his favorites foods that we prepare and bring for the study. O will sit in a feeder chair, like the one he used today, and I will feed him enough food for them to obtain images of the efficacy of his swallowing, but more importantly, images that will also tell them if any of the food is being aspirated into his lungs. The trick with kids like Owen is that they have trouble coordinating the closing of their airway with the opening of their esophagus when they swallow food. Any food that is taken into the lungs has the potential to cause serious infection. In talking with one of the experts on this at Children's a few weeks ago, a wonderful occupational therapist who has seen Owen twice and who is well known across the country for the work she does, it seems that Owen is not a very high-risk kiddo for this type of complication. Even if he does aspirate a bit of food, R. reminded me that we we ALL do this on occasion and since O has shown that he is very healthy, is not prone to infections, including respiratory infections, the risk relating to minor aspiration, (if he is aspirating at all), is greatly reduced.

Since I am pregnant and the swallow study involves a series of x-rays, we will wait until after February to perform this next test. Until now, we have been given the thumbs up to continue exploring tastes and helping O to improve upon his swallowing abilities.

After a LONG week of MANY appointments, this totally made my day.

All's well.

I apologize for once again not posting in several weeks.

We are all very well. Owen is stable and happy the majority of the time. There are still periods during the day when he is fussy and it takes a bit of juggling (from one seat to the next, to the bed, to the Ergo Carrier, to holding him...) to get him calmed. He is so much more aware of his surroundings and when sitting in his beanbag or Special Tomato seat, his gaze follows us across the room. This is such a HUGE milestone for him. He pauses and then turns towards the voice when someone he knows enters the room and he hears them. When I touch his nose and slide my finger from his nose to his lips then to his chin and say "Where's that smile," he smiles. He is, in fact, becoming so much more aware of himself and his surroundings that Kelsey and I feel that most of his fussy periods now are a result of his frustration at the lack of control he has over his body.

He vocalizes A LOT. His sounds are often very throaty and we can tell he is trying very hard to make the whole system work. He just can't get the vocal cords to operate like he wants them to. We encourage these sounds and let him know that we hear him and understand. It is the best we can do for now - to give him the confidence and encouragement he needs to keep trying.



When he is calm, he's full of smiles. It really gives us a sense that he is happy and that he loves us. It is difficult when you don't have this love reciprocated in the usual, tangible ways - through eye contact, smiles, coos - as we experienced for the first several months of O's life. What's funny is that I know O is looking at me when he looks just above my head or just to the side of my face. This is how it is with kids with CVI - they "see" better out of their peripheral vision. So when he looks at the top of my head, or my ear, I know he's actually focusing on my face. This has become "normal" for me - I don't even give it a second thought anymore.

O's neurologist has a new nurse - she's fabulous. Knowledgable, responsive, kind. She told me the other day that I must remember that Owen is a child with seizures, not a seizure-child. She reminded me not to let the seizures define him. This was in response to me letting her know that after our December 1st appointment with Dr. S for a f/u visit, we were going to be taking a few months off from appointments, tests, etc. so that we can have some peace at home both before and after his brother is born. We COULD have an EEG to see what is going on from this diagnostic stand point. We COULD have a swallow study (video flouroscopy) done to take a look at the efficacy of O's swallowing. Instead, we will continue to have blood draws each month at his pediatrician's office on Bainbridge Island to make sure he is still tolerating the keto diet well and get his weight checked every so often to make sure he is gaining well, but not too much, too fast. We will pass on all of the other non-emergency tests and appointments for a few months. I KNOW that if Owen could talk, he would say that he is just fine with this plan.

We DO have an oral/motor feeding evaluation set-up at the EI center this week. This will be performed by one of the Occupational/Speech Therapists there and will give us a better idea of Owen's oral feeding tolerance and abilities. Honestly, I think he'll do great. We've been giving him small tastes of keto-friendly foods (a mixture of unsweetened applesauce, butter and cinnamon, for example) and he chews and swallows slowly, but with ease and without choking or gagging. Sometime in late Spring, we'll have a swallow study done to ensure that no food or liquid is being aspirated. Once he's passed that "test" with flying colors, we'll work with Dr. S to incorporate some oral feedings into his day. Mealtime is such a social event and food (and cooking), such an important part of our lives - we want O to be able to share in these joys as well.

The ketogenic diet is still working great.

I've been in full nesting mode the last few weeks - cleaning, cleaning, cleaning, painting rooms (no VOC paint), organizing and rearranging. Every surface in our house has been wiped down and every drawer and closet cleaned out and organized (a big thank you to Janet for all of her help with this). I'm trying to get many appointments out of the way before the holidays AND in anticipation of my February 8th due date. This week is a busy one with appointments each day - EI f/u, PT, cranial-sacral, OB/GYN, oral/motor evaluation. We are looking forward to spending an early Thanksgiving on Bainbridge Island on Sunday with the Marshall/Hethcote/Kelly family. Next Wednesday, we leave for Oregon for five days to spend the actual Thanksgiving holiday with Mac and Margery (Grandpa Marshall and Nai Nai). Upon our return, we'll jump head-first into the busy holiday season at GFC (we have yet to feel any major effects from the economic mess and hope this continues) until we close for the holidays on the 24th. We've decided to lay low in January and work on getting lots of sleep, finishing up projects at home and staying relaxed. It will be good for the three of us to have some quiet time together before O's brother arrives.

I was reflecting this weekend, on my sentiments from this time last year - my posting included a reminder to give thanks for your children, their health, your spouses and lovers, your family, your friends. I received a call from my friend, Angie, this last Saturday. A friend and former co-worker of ours, in her late 50s, passed away unexpectedly last week. I had just spoken with C. on the phone a few months ago. Her daughter had been trying to have children for years - with many losses late in her pregnancies. C. was so excited when she called me - she was finally a grandmother. So once again, at this Thanksgiving, I am reminded to be thankful for all that I have - right now.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

I have great faith in a seed.

I planted my first winter garden this year, albeit a little late. Fortunately, mother nature is on my side and the mild fall weather we are having has helped my seeds along quite a bit. The radishes, green onions, kale, spinach, two types of lettuce (including a wonderful winter hardy, deep red variety called "Merlot"), arugula, roquette and garlic are all up. I confess... I planted 283 cloves of garlic which, yes, will hopefully equate to 283 heads of lovely hardneck and softneck garlic come next fall. All that remains to be "seen" is the watercress. All of the varieties are winter hardy and in researching vegetables for my winter garden this past summer, I learned that the majority of these varieties survive the cold temperatures by producing extra amounts of sugar which act as anti-freeze. Winter veggies can actually be sweeter than summer ones. Go figure. I don't know if any of these vegetables will mature enough to harvest before February, but I DO have great faith in a seed and will be patient.

I am currently enrolled in a Northwest Earth Institute course, "Menu for the Future." Any individual can arrange to hold/host the course in their home. The class I am attending is being held at Leslie and Herb's house every other Monday through mid-November. Although, as Herb noted after the first session, with our group in particular the readings are really preaching to the choir, it is interesting, thought-provoking and engaging none-the-less.

I wanted to share a few links that I hope some of you might find useful and interesting:

Good Food: "An intimate look at the farmers, ranchers, and businesses that are creating a more sustainable food system in the Pacific Northwest."

You Grow Girl blog and book.

Seed Savers Exchange: Based out of Decorah, Iowa. Offers over 11,000 varieties from an extensive "living collection" of seeds saved throughout the generations.

Slow Food USA's Ark of Taste

In Owen news... We had our long-awaited orthopedic visit at Seattle Children's Hospital on Wednesday. I was really nervous about this. Owen is so high tone, his spine already significantly curved and his muscle spasticity such an issue, that I feared the worst - - MAJOR interventions (surgical, drug, etc) at only 15 months of age. In the end, Dr. S said that Owen looked great, is very healthy and is solid and sturdy! He said that he still has excellent flexibility in his neck, spine, hips and feet and that he would like to see us back in a year. As is the case with children like Owen, he said that every child is different and that his curvature could remain the same or could become problematic. Only time will tell. There is no sign of hip dysplasia - a huge relief. I KNOW that all of the work that Barb has done at the PT visits, the time she has put into positioning and the time we spend almost every morning on stretching and exercising, has helped tremendously.

I recognize there are probably a number of people out there who read this blog, who haven't met Owen, who wonder how he is doing developmentally. As I just told Barb last week at O's PT visit, hope reigns supreme around our house. That said, we are also realistic. Owen is significantly developmentally delayed. He has little control over his extremities, except for a bit of volitional use of his right hand. He has little head control and no trunk control. He still has periods each day where he is very fussy and uncomfortable due to being overstimulated, constipated or overly tired. He does not regularly make eye contact and will often focus his gaze on the brightest light in the room (common for kids like Owen with cortical visual impairment).

But, if you read between the lines, or have been following this blog the last year, he has changed so much given where he's come from and what he's been through. His smiles are now slow, sweet and more deliberate (and heart-melting). He recognizes voices and loves it when Daddy comes home. The occasional "use" of his right hand is becoming more focused and frequent. He recognizes Dutch. His vision is improving very nicely and he scans faces and spaces now versus holding his gaze to his right side. He no longer shows signs of nystagmus. He is slowly gaining more head control now that he is no longer having as many seizures and we have time to focus on this important skill. His severe reflux is gone. When people ask how Owen is doing, I say "great" and follow it up with "it is all relative." He IS doing great.

Owen's weight has been such an issue the last eight months. He lost quite a bit after getting the tube, vomited more frequently and was fussy during feedings, so we backed down on the volume for days at a time. Then the spasms returned in May which complicated feedings even more. He was down to 15 pounds this summer. At our weigh-in on Friday at the pediatrician's, we were delighted to see that he is now a whopping 16 pounds 11 ounces! He has gained 21 ounces in the last four weeks. Since he is stable on the keto diet, we are hopeful that this trend can continue.

While he is currently stable on the ketogenic diet, he continues to have 5-10 seizures each day as he falls asleep. For most parents, any seizure activity is a scary thing. For us, 5-10 seizures compared to 120-150 is not only amazing, but it is also something we are okay with for now. O is almost completely weaned off of the Vigabatrin which has eliminated the partial seizures we had been seeing (rapid, small jerks of the head in clusters of 4-5). Owen's neurologist suspected that the Vigabatrin was causing these and since we all felt as though it wasn't doing anything for his spasms, decided to try a wean. This wean has also been really beneficial for his level of alertness and his ability to focus and learn. Seizure medications are so rough on kids and have such major, debilitating side effects. The lesser of two evils.

If you are a parent who is considering the ketogenic diet for your child, here are a few tips:

1: Constipation is a HUGE issue and can be significant enough on the diet to be both extremely uncomfortable and dangerous. Owen just had his first BM yesterday, without the use of suppositories, since leaving Stanford eight weeks ago. Kelsey and I have never been so happy to see a big pile of poo in our lives. A few weeks ago, we suspected a bowel impaction and had to do a clean-out so that it didn't turn into a bowel obstruction. Scary stuff.

2: Miralax can be great for relieving constipation but be aware of the fact that it can produce VERY loose stools, making your child extremely uncomfortable. Although the recommendation was to continue to increase the Miralax dose, after a few weeks we could see clearly that this was causing TOO loose of stools and making O very unhappy. We stopped using this and went to a magnesium supplement. His flexing at the waist and stomach discomfort dissipated within a few days of discontinuing Miralax. The Magnesium supplement seems to be working for his constipation and is beneficial in so many other ways.

2: Probiotocs. These were a life-saver for Owen! Leslie reminded us of the importance of a balanced flora in the belly and just a couple of days after starting Owen on these, his overall bowel health improved. Just be sure, as with any supplement, that you check with your dietician or ensure that there are no fillers or added carbohydrates that would alter the 4:1 ratio and potentially throw a child out of ketosis (and spike seizure activity).

3: Mineral oil: This was recommended as a way to lubricate the intestines. We did not know, however, until reading more about the use of this on the ketogenic forum that mineral oil can actually inhibit the absorption of medications and all of the fatty vitamins. It is also not suggested (by an NIH article) for long term use.

4: The Ketogenic Diet by Dr. John Freeman: Essential! We had a wonderful experience at Lucille Packard Children's Hospital, but there were a few things they didn't tell us that would have helped us quite a bit these last few weeks. We ended up pulling out The Ketogenic Diet a few days ago to get some of these questions answered. We found the answers and more...

5: Free fluids: For the highest level of ketosis and best seizure control free fluids must be controlled and somewhat restricted. There is a fine balance between dehydration (which can cause kidney stones) and adequate hydration to avoid this complication while also maximizing the benefits of the diet. The book lays out the ways in which to calculate fluid intake, measure hydration and how to watch for complications. We had been giving O too much water with his medications, when we flushed his tube, etc and have adjusted these amounts within the last two days.

6: Mixing of the Ketocal formula: We wondered for two months why the Ketocal seemed like it was not properly mixed and the last 2-3 ounces would not flow through the tube/pump. We learned in The Ketogenic Diet, that the formula will only completely dissolve when mixed with water at 113-122 degrees - mush warmer than what we were using. This has dramatically improved the consistency and the flow of the formula through the pump.

7: I would highly recommend the Yahoo Ketogenic Diet Forum. I have had so many of my questions answered by thoughtful, knowledgeable parents. I don't know what I would have done without this resource.

Update on Owen's sibling: We have moved forward with completing the process to save his cord blood. Whether this will be used for Owen in the future, for O's sibling or whether it will simply sit in cryogenic storage for a hundred years, remains to be seen. We felt it was both a logical and easy decision to have it saved, however, especially since Swedish has a streamlined process set up for collection and delivery to Cord Blood Registry. (Addendum, post-post: Karen Gerstenberger is always so thoughtful about leaving comments on O's blog. As she reminds me, cord blood can be used by other individuals, including cancer patients.)

I had my 23 week OB appointment this Thursday. Everthing looks great. Dr. Burdick reviewed the quad screen results and said that they are perfect. I have gained 11 pounds in 23 weeks although the way this one is kicking, I feel like he's already significantly larger than Owen was at this point. My only "complaint" with this pregnancy is that I am definitely more tired the second time around. But my pregnancies, so far, knock on wood, tend to be so easy that I feel like, if that's my only issue, I'm doing pretty damn good.

And Kelsey? You never get to hear from him... We'll, he has perfected both the sourdough baguette and the rosemary/salt loaf with the "mother sponge" sourdough starter that we've had going now for a couple of months. They are divine - we now get to have fresh bread on a regular basis with his loaves plus the one we pick up from Judith here in Indianola on Wednesdays. Judith is an amazing baker/foodie. She used to own a cafe and bakery in Kingston but now works out of her dreamy, commercial kitchen in Indianola. It is like walking into a rustic kitchen in Italy with a huge, central wooden slab as a work surface, wood beams stretching across the kitchen ceiling, fresh mozzarella hanging from the beams, dripping into buckets and a Hobart mixer as tall as I am. She recently started selling locally raised chickens - we bought four at four pounds each. Janet will be bringing her chicken shears next week to teach me how to cut them down. She picked them up along with our bread order last week as we were at O's ortho appointment and told me afterwards that she hasn't seen chickens that fresh and that color since she was a girl on the farm. They are a beautiful, healthy pink color - nothing like the chicken you see in the grocery store.

Back to Kelsey... he is actually in at Grounds for Change today, working to get things in order as we enter the busiest time of the year, November and December. Things are going great at the biz - we are so fortunate to have such amazing staff and we know this year will be our best yet. Our goal, come February, is to have Kelsey stay at home on Fridays so that he can have more time with both kids. We are really looking forward to having three days a week together as a family. Kelsey is my rock. Nothing much really changes with him although I believe he does continue to improve with age - like a fine wine.



I installed the "subscribe" feature on the right hand side of the blog for those of you who kindly check the blog each day only to be disappointed by my posting negligence. This way, you can sign up and receive a notification when I've entered a new post.

Also, there have been a few parents who have wanted to have direct communication by email about various treatments, experiences, etc, relating to Owen. I have now attached my email address to my profile so that you can email me directly with these questions.

Lastly, I will try to get better at labeling my posts so that the links on the right side will have some meaning. I know many parents have found this blog and use it as a reference for their own experiences. Hopefully, the labels will make it easier to find postings that may be relevant to the issue at hand.

Cheers and love from Indianola,

S/K/O

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"The more I read and the more I talked to other parents of children with disabilities and normal children, the more I found that feelings and emotions about children are very much the same in all families. The accident of illness or disability serves only to intensify feelings and emotions, not to change them." - Judith Weatherly

As promised...

The photo of my sister, Laura, taken on October 28th, 1982, with the gigantic pumpkins she grew that year on our two acre parcel outside of Iowa City, Iowa.


Happy Halloween!

Ooooooo, baby.

I am so excited.

Janet and I (and Owen) had a chance to take a look at the Burley D'Lite in person yesterday at REI. I have spent the last few months reading up on double bike trailers. The D'Lite also converts to a pull-behind with skis for our annual Methow Valley x/c ski trips and has consistently received excellent reviews from parents, including a few who have kids with CP. One such parent said, ""I recommend this product to anyone in the market for a trailer. I use this for trailing, walks, zoos, parks, jogging. I am a stay at home mother that has a child with cerebral palsy that cannot do anything independently (including sitting). I wanted her to experience bike riding and needed a safe, secure, and comfortable ride for my daughter. This is the ONLY product on the market that I would put her in."

I am NOT being paid by Burley to post this - I swear. It's just that we LOVE to bike, love to travel, Owen loves to ride/move and this trailer will get all of us out of the house. It's a double-seater and holds two kiddos for a total of up to 100 pounds. We hope to get this sometime this winter and will retrofit it with the "Baby Snuggler" padded harness/slings for both kids. This kit is used for smaller tikes who have less head/truck control and will really help to secure both babes in their seats.

We've looked into trails (some of them nice, flat railroads that have had the tracks pulled up and converted into bike trails) across BC, on Vancouver Island, in the San Juan Islands, in California and here in WA State. So many possibilities! Owen (and his brother) will be able to hear the birds, smell the fresh air and see the beautiful sights as we all cruise along on our wheels. Now we just need to get our road/mountain bikes down, dusted off and tuned up.

Owen has really been enjoying his Ergo Carrier the last three weeks - so much so that sometimes this is THE ONLY place he wants to be. And I love it. After so many months of seizures, sleeplessness and fussiness, it is lovely to be able to take him into a public place like REI (where we were for two hours yesterday) and have him calmly experience the sights and sounds. He even managed to fit in a nap while we were there. I have joked that I am going to keep him skinny just so I can continue to carry him around and keep him close to me.


We met up with my mother's cousin and her family (Mary, Tim, Madison and Sarah) at the Puyallup Fair a couple of weeks ago. My mother grew up raising livestock for 4H and all of us, having grown up in Iowa, enjoyed experiencing the quintessential summer reminder of our roots. Owen's favorite, hands-down, was the cow barn. He immediately went quiet and got wide-eyed when we entered. The beautiful, mocha-colored Jersey cow that we stopped next to was nice enough to let out a timely, long, sweet "moooooo." Owen loved it! I know the smell was also new and wonderfully intense for him - the warm hay mixed with a bit of cow funk... I wanted to include the strip from the black and white photo booth that he and I got cozy in at the fair. Me and my sweetie... well, one of my sweeties. I have a few of these strips of Kelsey and I to document the booths we've cozied up together in, in our almost 19 years of couplehood...

I've also promised some that I would post ultrasound photos, so here they are. The ultrasound was on September 11th, so a full three weeks ago. My pooch continues to grow, and Owen's little brother continues to kick. No more of the barely noticeable, gentle movements. These are now the unmistakable bumps and kicks of a frolicking, growing baby within my belly.