Baseball

 

My kids play many sports, including baseball, football, volleyball and basketball. I love watching all of my kids play sports of all kinds. My all-time favorite sport is baseball. I love to play baseball, watch kids play baseball, watch college baseball and MLB. I grew up playing softball, and my passion for baseball began then. I am so excited that the Colorado Rockies season is getting started. I have been looking forward to opening day, and enjoying watching Spring Training with my family. Cory's high school season is underway (Go Sabercats), and Chandler's season starts in April (Go Force). I LOVE IT!! Our family has made some wonderful memories as a result of baseball. We have had great times at Rockies and Sky Sox games, eating peanuts and cheering our team on. We have been to Cooperstown, and visited the Baseball Hall of Fame and Doubleday Field.

Cooperstown

The kids on the bleachers at Doubleday Field

Doubleday Field

We have been to the College World Series in Omaha and Rockies Spring Training in Arizona.

Omaha bound

At the College World Series

Every summer, we spend a week in Steamboat Springs for the Youth Triple Crown World Series that Chandler's team plays in, and we have a blast with great friends and fun family time. I can see why baseball is the Great American Pastime! What a great sport!!

Champions!

Grandad almost never misses a game

Our newest baseball fan

What I Love About Babies

I am so thankful to have Landon in my life. He is such a wonderful blessing. He is so precious and sweet, and I don't know what I ever did without him. Now that our older kids are growing up, it is so special having a little one again. I know how fast the time goes, and I am enjoying every minute with this sweet baby boy. I appreciate all of the little things that come with having a baby again.

What I love about babies:

Belly laughs

Bald heads

Tiny toes

Long eyelashes

Giggles

Chubby thighs

Fuzzy heads

Soft skin

Rocking at night

Splashing in the bath

Just-shampooed hair that smells like Johnson and Johnson's baby shampoo

Reading stories

Singing lullabyes

Sleepy smiles

Paci's bobbing up and down

Cuddling in a fuzzy blankie

Little mittens

Innocence

Unconditional love

Footie pajamas

Rosy, chubby cheeks

Little button noses

Watching as they discover the big world around them

Chubby tummies

Baby breath

Getting up in the middle of the night, and not minding it a bit

Sleepy sighs

Sweet friends like Pooh Bear

A little head on my shoulder

Coos

Landon has brought so much to our family. He is a gift from God.

Landon's Progress

Since we brought Landon home, he has come so far.  We are so proud of him!  He is the sweetest, cutest little baby in the world!  He has gotten stronger, and is doing new things everyday.  He kicks his legs and lifts them up in the air (a real accomplishment after not being able to move a few months ago!) He is starting to grab his feet.  He grabs toys and puts them in his mouth.  He is starting to roll from his side to his back.  He is still trying to turn his head when he is on his tummy. We celebrate every accomplishment, because he works so hard.  He is very bright, very happy and very social.  He smiles, laughs, tracks beautifully with his eyes (in the words of his doctor!).  He is very visual, and loves to watch us and look at everything.  He is taking it all in!   He loves his sister and brothers and watches everything they do.

He weighs about 13 pounds now....over twice his birth weight!  He gets monthy shots of Synagis, which is a medication that contains antibodies to the virus known as RSV, which would be a terrible virus for him to get. Because he did not move much in utero, he was born with stiffness in several of his joints, including his hands, wrists, elbows and feet.  We do range-of-motion exercises with him every day, and his feet and elbows are much more relaxed.  He was in casts for the first 2 months after we came home from the hospital to help his little hands and wrists.  Now, he wears braces at night on his arms.  His little feet did not need casts, but he sleeps with a brace that helps them. He has weekly visits in our home with a physical therapist and an occupational therapist. 

His muscle biopsy showed evidence that he has a congenital myopathy. This is a genetic muscle condition, which causes weakness. The good thing about myopathies is that they are not progressive the way a muscular dystrophy would be.  We are thankful for that.   We do not have a specific diagnosis.  They may repeat the biopsy again in the fall to try to get more answers.  His appointment with the cardiologist to have an echocardiogram went well, and the test was normal.  His appointment with the pulmonologist also went well.   Kids with muscle conditions can have breathing problems because the muscles needed for breathing are weaker, but he is doing well so far.  We are so thankful!  He is repeating his swallow study in April to see if he can start taking in anything by mouth.  Depending on how it goes, he could start taking bottles, either with milk, or thickened milk, and if not he may at least get to start trying cereal and baby food orally.  But, if he can't that is okay, too.  We take our time with this little guy, and feeding him with the G-tube is going really well. 

We love Landon so much, and are so thankful to have him in our lives.  He is an amazing little guy, and has taught me so much in the five months that he has been here.  Thanks to little Landon, I have learned to take things one day at a time, and not sweat the small stuff.  He is truly a blessing and a miracle.

Little Landon

 After Landon was born, he spent an hour with us and then went to be checked out in the NICU.  In the NICU, they put him on some oxygen, but they told us he would not have needed it if he were anywhere but Denver.   He was breathing on his own, and that was a huge blessing.  He was so weak, he did not move at all.  Over the next 4 weeks, he gradually gained some strength to move his arms and legs a little bit.  They did an MRI of his brain and spine, which to our relief was totally normal.  They tested him for a devastating, fatal disease called SMA.  We waited two long weeks for the results. I prayed and prayed.  When the neonatologist gave us the news that it was normal, I cried and said "We can handle anything else now".  They tested him for Prader Willi and Myotonic Dystrophy-both normal.  The only reason he was still in the NICU at this point was that he seemed to struggle with swallowing, so the decision was made to move him to PSL hospital downtown.  There, they did a swallow study and upper G.I.  Landon was able to suck well, propel the milk to the back of his mouth well, and swallow into his stomach.  But, with each swallow, he would allow some liquid to pool in his throat, and eventually, it would spill over into his windway.  Aspirating can cause pneumonia, so he was immediately taken off of oral feeds.  He was also shown to be refluxing on the upper G.I.  He had been eating with an NG tube for the first 4 weeks of his life at this point, and we wanted him to come home, so we made the decision to have a G-tube put into his tummy for feeding.  He also had a Nissen wrap, which is a procedure on his stomach and esophagus to prevent reflux, which can also cause aspiration.  They also did a muscle biopsy to try to uncover the reason for his muscle weakness and hypotonia.  He recovered beautifully, and came home 6 days later, the day before Thanksgiving, after 5 weeks in the NICU.  It was the best Thanksgiving ever to have our baby home.  We were truly thankful.

Coming home from the hospital

Becoming a Mother

I thoroughly love being a mother, and my family is my life.  I have always wanted nothing more than to be a wife and mom, and when our daughter Bekah was born 17 years ago, that dream became a wonderful reality. We learned two days before Christmas in 1992 that a baby was on the way. We found out we were having a girl. Rebekah Jo arrived in August, 7 lbs, 5 oz, and was beautiful and sweet and I was in love!  I embraced motherhood, and it was more than I ever even dreamed it would be. I was blessed to be a stay-at-home mom and loved every minute of it.  Soon, we were expecting again, with Bekah only 7 months old.  I was thrilled, but sadly within two months I would have an ultrasound showing that the precious heart was no longer beating.  My heart was full of sadness and grief.  Four months later, I felt the joy and excitement of learning that we had a baby on the way again.  Could it get any better?  One month later, we went to our ultrasound appointment.  I was so afraid when the technician seemed to have uncovered something unexpected.....but instead of the devastating news we had experienced last time, this time we would hear wonderful news....TWINS!  I was on top of the world.  Just like my pregnancy with Bekah, I felt wonderful.  I love being pregant, feeling that blessing of life growing inside me, looking forward to the sweet baby.  My pregnancy with Bekah was perfect, and this pregnancy went nearly as well. I had some issues at the end, with preterm labor, 4 weeks of home bedrest and 1 week of hospital bedrest for preeclampsia, but these things are common with twins, and for a twin pregnancy, everything was going extraordinarily well.  We knew we were having two fraternal boys, and we anxiously awaited their arrival.  In July, 1995, the twins arrived just 3 weeks early, full-term for twins.  5 lb, 12 oz Cory Richard, and 5 lb, 13 oz Taylor Joseph were gorgeous, sweet babies.  Life was perfect, and crazy  (with three kiddos under the age of two) and wonderful!  We decided to wait a while to have another child as our hands were full!!  4 1/2 years later, we again were thrilled to learn that we would have a little bitty one in our lives again.  We decided to be surpised this time, so we did not find out whether we would be having a boy or a girl.  Again, I had a wonderful pregnancy, felt fabulous, and enjoyed every bit of the pregnancy.  In September, 2000, Dr. Swanson smiled and said "It's a Boy!"  Chandler Laine was an adorable 7 lb, 11 oz baby.  For the next 9 1/2 years we happily raised our kids, loving our big family.  I could not believe how fast they were growing up.  All of the sudden, I blinked and I had three teenagers, and a 9 year old who thought he was a teenager.  Where had all of my babies gone?  We were having so much fun as a family, taking vacations, camping, boating, watching the kids play sports.  Life with older kids was great, but I missed them being little, too! On March 2, 2010, we were blessed with a completely wonderful, joyous surprise.  Our family would be blessed with a sweet little baby in the fall. I did not think we would ever experience the miracle of a new baby again. I didn't think I would experience the miracle of pregnancy again. It was such a gift.  With our kids getting older and bigger by the day, we would have the joy of a baby our lives!  Things we had not experienced in years would be part of our life once more:  footie pj's, a little head that has the sweet scent of Johnson and Johnson's baby shampoo, lullabyes, bedtime stories, Pooh Bear....so many sweet things awaited us.  Happily, we shared the joyous news with the kids.  They were surprised, and excited.  I felt a strong mother's intuition that I was again carrying twins.  Rich and I went for our first ultrasound 4 weeks later, and confirmed my suspicion.  Never doubt a Mommy's intuition!  Excitement didn't begin to describe the way I felt.  Sweet little fraternal twins, for the second time in our lives!  I ordered a home heartbeat monitor, like I had used with Chan.  I could never find two seperate heartbeats.  Was I just missing one?  With growing concern, we headed in for another ultrasound.  I told Rich that I felt like we had lost one of the precious babies, and the ultrasound technician confirmed my fear.  Again, I was full of sadness for the loss of our sweet baby. We were blessed to have a precious baby on the way, and I focused on looking forward to the baby, and also enjoying being pregnant.  As usual, I loved being pregnant and felt wonderful.  Because of my age (38), the doctor recommended a detailed ultrsound with a perinatologist, to make sure everything was good.  We had the ultrasound, and learned that we were having another little boy!  The baby looked completely healthy, although the doctor could not get a clear picture of his hands and feet. He asked us to comeback in two weeks, to peek at the hands and feet.  Two weeks later, while Rich, Cory and Taylor were on the twins' 8th grade trip to Washington D.C., I went to the ultrasound with Bekah and Chandler.  The doctor announced that he was concerned that the baby's feet were turned in.  Once again, he had his little arms bent at the elbows with his hands in fists under his chin.  I was numb with fear for our baby's life and health.  Every four weeks, we repeated the ultrasound, and always saw the same picture.  I felt much less movement from the baby than I had in my previous pregnancies.  I was worried, but tried to enjoy the pregnancy and enjoy every day I had with him, hoping that he would survive. On October 21, 2010, 3 weeks before his due date, Landon Parker arrived, weighing 6lbs 5 oz.  He was adorable, and Rich, Bekah and Mom were there with me for the birth.  Bekah got to cut the cord!  He had apgar scores of 8 and 9, and was breathing well.  All of us (Dad, Mom, Rich, Bekah, Cory,Taylor, Chandler and I) got to hold him, before they took him to the NICU to be checked. We were in love, and our journey with little Landon had begun.