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HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY GREYSON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our little boy is growing up. I can't believe that it has been a year already. Today is a happy day for all of us. Ironically it was also a little sad for me. I cried because it made me think of all that we had to deal with last year. I felt really silly since it seemed wrong to be sad on such a good day. Becky, our wonderful day care provider, told me not to worry that it was a normal reaction given what we went through. Becky almost lost her first child and said for the first few years she had the same emotions and that no one but a parent who has gone through it will understand. That made me feel so much better so I dried my tears and took cupcakes to the kids at daycare.

Greyson had his first cupcake today. He wasn't sure what to think of the thing. He carefully touched it then tasted it. Of course pretty soon it was everywhere.

We took Greyson to Olive Garden for dinner. He loves pasta as much as we do. I'm finding that I have to leave bigger tips now since my son makes such a mess when we go to eat. Greyson was a little concerned when the servers sang to him until he realized it was for him. Then it was ok.

Our neighbor Lori left Greyson a dump truck with balloons tied to it on the porch. He liked the truck but was just totally in love with the balloons. It was funnier then heck to watch him rap the ribbons around himself and yank on the balloons. It was such a great day!

October 31, 2006
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Happy Halloween

So I got all sorts of domestic and made Greyson his costume. He was a hobo/scarecrow. Now keep in mind I haven't sewn anything since jr. high before my eye surgery. And the only things I made then were book covers and pillows. Thank goodness Becky helped pin the sleaves and put in the darts on the hat. Actually it was fun and I'm planning on doing some other projects. Poor Greyson is going to have to put up with me and my projects.

Becky and I took Greyson and Destiny to the Marion County Fire Dept. They had an open house with lots of goodies. I tried to get Greyson to sit in the fire truck by himself but he wasn't going for it. He did keep his hat and hood on which surprised me. Greyson and I went home to trick or treat at Lori's and Debi & Tracy's houses. For a kid who doesn't eat candy he made out great. This was so much more fun then last year!

Today Greyson is having his hernia's removed. Poor little guy can't get a break. This is his 3rd surgery and probably won't be his last. We had to wait 3 hours longer then we were scheduled for because a child who had been hit by a car needed emergency surgery on his leg. Greg and I had no problem being bumped by a truama surgery given the fact that we probably bumped someone the day Greyson had his first surgery that lasted over 8 hours.

Surgery only took 2 1/2 hours. Dr Hudson removed the 2 hernias and measured Greyson's bladder. It held 40 cc's and is growing well. He seems to have some control so he isn't wet all the time. When he starts walking we'll have to strip him down and let him run around on the kitchen floor to watch for leaking. Greyson did great. He peed on the the doctor and a nurse before we got to see him so we didn't have to wait for him to pee. As usual the staff was great at Doernbecher.

November 23, 2006

Happy Thanksgiving

We did Christmas Eve with Greg's family and then made a stop at Becky's. She got Greyson a ride on Poah Bear airplane like the one she has at daycare. He loves that thing! I think he is going to be into music since he likes to make the music play and will sit and listen to it. Santa brought him lots of toys. He must have been a really good boy! His other favorite toy is one by Parent's Magazine the has a mallet for hitting balls into a toy then the balls come out of the bottom. Now we just have to keep him from hitting things like the fish tank and the tv with the mallet. His California Grandparents sent him more parts to his train which he likes to make play miusic. I think he was a little on toy over load by the morning end.

Greg got tickets to see comedian Bill Engvall and a coffee & espresso maker for Christmas. He is so hard to shop for! Greg got me a satalite radio for my car. Now I can listen to any kind of music I want without the annoying commercials. We had a nice quiet day with just us. It was wonderful.

So I haven't been very good at updating the site, but i'm going to try to do better. Our house has been busy. Greyson is walking and talking and reeking havic. The little stinker has figured out how to open the safety latches on the cabinets. He looks right at you and opens them and then laughs. Becky had to put her corner shelf into another room because Master G was showing the younger babies how to take it apart. He is so smart! I keep hearing that he is just like Mom & Dad. We are sooo in trouble with!

Greyson is tall. I'm starting to use some of his 24 month tops, but he is barely in his 18 month pants. The boy has no butt! And he loves taking of his left shoe and sock. Can't quite figure that one out. It's always the same foot though.

He loves toys that make noise especially music. He dances a little and loves to bang things. One of the cabinets he loves to brak into is the tupperware. My kitchen has pots, pans and plastic containers stewn around it most of the time when Greyson is in the house.

Our little boy is just so full of it! He is growing quickly and man is he a handful, but we wouldn't trade him for anything. I never thought I could love someone so much. He makes me laugh everyday. Greyson has the most wonderful spirit and sense of humor. He is a happy, sweet child.. We are truely blessed.

Please take a look at the gallery. There are all sorts of pictures there that I finally got around to posting.

May 1,2007

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Things as usual have been busy at our house. I'm posting a gallery here that has pictures from March and April. The ones of Greyson running around the back yard are his first experience of grass under his bare feet. He wasn't so sure what to think at first, but quckly desided it was pretty neat. He promptly took off running.

The little naked boy pictures are to cute and funny not to post. Dr. Hudson asked us to let Greyson run around naked so we could watch to see if he leaks or has some dry moments. He seems to have a small leak like a dripping faucet. But he also has enough force in there to occasionally spray himself in the face with pee in the morning. I'm told this is a good thing. We go back to see Dr. Hudson July 2nd.

The Easter pictures are with Becky, Al, Destiny Eggert and Destiny's half brother Jato (his nickname), who Becky and Al will be adopting soon. We all went up to Mikes Beach Resort in WA for a very relaxing Easter. The Easter Bunny was kind enough to find us and bring the kids baskets and even hide some eggs. Greyson found his first egg and thought that was cool enough and quit looking. We went to church in this little town with a minister who fell right out of the south. Can I have an amen?! It was a great weekend and we are all hoping to go again soon.

May 13, 2007

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Today is the day we finally leave on our cruise to Alaska! We are traveling with 10 of our closest friends and family. After 8 months of planning its time to go. Greyson is staying home with Becky and Al. The little stinker got the stomach flu 4 days ago. Hopefully none of us will get it. Man it was hard to leave my little boy. I miss him already!

The ship is absolutely gorgeous! And huge! The bright colors are cheery and fun. This ship hit the water last Dec. for its first season sailing in the Caribean. We are on the first Alaskan voyage. Dawn and I are the only ones in the group who have cruised before so I'm excited to have the others get going and having some fun.

We leave from Seattle at 4pm to head north to Juneau Alaska. I'll be posting pictures as we go I hope. It will all depend on the availability of internet access.

May 14, 2007

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So I just want to say thank you to my loving son for giving me the flu. I got sick last night but am feeling better today. It seems to be moving through me a little faster then it did him.

Greg climbed the rock wall today while I rested. AArron got video of it on Gregs phone. Maybe I'll get around to trying that.

We are at sea today and having formal night tonight. So far the food is good and the company great. The weather has been awesome.

We went to the New Years Eve party in the Spinaker Lounge. They gave out party hats and noise makers. We got to celebrate the begining of 2007 all over again.

May 15, 2007

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We arrive in Juneau to day. The sun is out and it's about 65 degrees. The Rice Family and we decided to look for a city tour when we went into town. We paid $25 each to do a bus tour of the town and go to Mendenhall Glacier. It is the only dive up to visit glacier in the world. There were people in kayaks in front of the glacier. I think they must be nuts. Water with ice floating in it doesn't look like somewhere I'd want to be if I happen to fall out of the boat. There was a brown bear and her 2 cubs in a tree that Greg got a picture of. Rumor was they were chased there by a goat.

There were lots of jewelry stores in port. Aarron was negotiating with the sales guy for a $30k ring for Dawn. He got them down to $19k, but Dawn was having heart palpataions that he might actually buy it. We sent his mom in to drag him out of the store. It was entertaining to say the least.

We ate at the Red Dog Salloon. They had sawdust on the floor and swinging doors just like in the gold rush days. The food was better then I expected and the rum and coke was good. The others enjoyed the beer.

We bought a few trinkets. Oh and we were told that on Douglas Island there is a bear in every square mile so if you go out walking there is a good chance you'll find one. We went back to the boat.

Greg lost his phone. When checked with the reception desk when we got back to the ship. Luckily secureity found it. We think it fell of his pants when we were in line to get off the ship. The funny thing was that he was most upset that his rock climbing video was on it the phone. Glad it reappeared.

Today we are in Skagway. What a cute little town. With 38 jewelry stores. I tried on a $35k Alexanderite ring that the sales guy told me to walk outside with so Greg could see the color change. I wouldn't never have been able to do that here. Went to the Red Onion Salloon and Brothel. What a hoot! The food was good and the Madams were flirtations. Aaron was even made into a Madam Sandwhich. Check out the pictures. We got into port at 7am and it was done so smoothly we didn't even wake up. Our ship was docked at the end of the main street of town. It looked like the vallet put it right up front.

Greg and I had our dinner for two tonight. We ate at Le Bistro the French restaurant. I had Orange Duck Flambae that was set ablaze at our table. Way cool! I had Escargo (snails) and couldn't get Greg to even try. They were in a garlic butter sauce with a little cheese. They were yummy. The dessert was the best. I ordered chocolate fondue with fresh fruit. Oh my gosh.....was it good!

We are cruising Glacier Bay today. It is so beautiful that I can't even decribe it. It was chilly and grey first thing in the morning. But Mother Nature smiled on us and the sun came out. It was absolutely wonderful. We found out that the glaciers really are blue.

There were seal pups hanging out on the ice. We saw one of the glaciers calf. Calfing is when a piece of the ice falls off into the ocean. It sounds like a shot gun going off. Absolutley amazing! There are lots of pictures that are worth looking through. Greg got some in Jaw Drop of the John Hopkins Glacier with the reflection of the ice into the water and the blue sky. Very very pretty.

Getting to Ketchikan meant being tendered in on the 90 person life boats. It was different. They are noisey but pretty quick. We visited Dollys House which was another brothel. This lady was smart. She was the only one working her house and she had Canadian Whiskey imported that she charged 75 cents for 1 1/2 teaspoons. She knew if a man would buy that then the $3 trick was a done deal. Men made $1 a day working and Dooly averaged $75-100 a day. And she had a boyfriend that came home most nights. She paid cash for her house of $850 in less then 2 months.

We looked at more jewelry and trinkets. We saw some Eagels flying around. The town has a rive that runs through it. It was very pretty. I think this was my favorite port. The only bummer was the long line waiting to get back to the ship. It was about 70 degrees so it got warm waiting in line. Mom and John rode the zip lines and survived it.

We took Master G and the Eggert Family to Orlando Florida. We flew out of Salem which was great. It saved us an hour and half to Portland and $60 in parking. Becky doesn't like flying so she was durgged up for the trip. She was more entertaining the kids what with the smoozing against the window and drooling. Just kidding. :-) We stayed at the Sheraton Vistana Resort. It was very nice and slept all 7 of us comfortable.

We did a day each at Epcot, Animal Kingdom and MGM Studios. Greyson loved the animals at Animal Kingdom. Of course still being a lover of rollercoasters (something I miss from CA) I loved Rockin' Roller Coaster, Everest and Tower of Terror. We spent a day and a half at the Magic Kingdom. I have to say their version of Space Mountain is better.

The highlight of the trip for us grown-ups was the 2 days at Kennedy Space Center. We had lunch with an astronaut, did the behind the scenes tour and went to the Cape. The babies did really well considering all the walking and bus riding. Standing at the site of the Apollo 1 explosion was so moving. It brought tears to my eyes and many other people there. The Space Shuttle was on the pad so we got to see her from 2 miles away. Wouldn't want to be there during take off as it would kill you.

I'll have to say 7 days wasn't long enough to see everything when traveling with kids. We never even made it to the pool. We didn't see any of downtown Disney or any other amusement parks. But we had a great time. We travel with people who we consider part of our family and we didn't even kill each other. It was lots of fun and we're all looking forward to going again when the boys get older.

August 2007

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August brought lots of ballooing. We did the Albany rally and a new one in Rickreall that was part of the State Fair. 2 weekends in a row of 3 days of flying is a bit much even if it is fun. Wore me out! But we had great weather and long pretty flights. Greg's working on getting his commercial balloon pilots certificate so it was good for him to do all that flying. I still can't back the trailor up well, but hey theres always next year!

We went to our first Association of Bladder Exstropy Confernece this month. This is a nonprofit group we joined when Greyson was born. There are no support groups in Oregon for this birth defect so we joined the national chapter. We spent 2 days in Seattle meeting adults and kids with this birth defect. We talked to parents who have been through what we have and then some. We talked to the best doctors in the world who deal with the surgeries and care of the kids with this defect. It was and interesting, emotional weekend. We found out that Greyosn's next surgery isn't just a go in and fix instant gratification thing. It requires 5-7 days in the hospital with another 2 weeks nearby for care. If we end up going to John Hopkins for the surgery we'll be there about a month. Greyson will have to learn to pee since as far as we know he never feels like he has too. Of course that is also why they wait to do this when the kids are older as they need to be able to communicate the need to go. Some kids never feel the need so they are just stuck with a routine of goind every 2-3 hours. I cornered Dr. Matthews from Hopkins. This nice man let me ask all my questions and pick his brain until I was done.

I'm looking at starting a west coast chapter of this group. If I can help one mother not feel as scared and alone as I did it will be worth it. Of course I need another thing to do like I need a whole in my head.

September 8, 2007

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September 14, 2007

Capacity Test

Greyson had his bladder capacity test today. They gave him a drug called Versed that mellowed him out so they could insert a cathiter without much fuss. The kid was stoned out of his mind! The nurse put a sticker on the end of his nose and he just looked at so I knew he was wasted. We got to see the dye go into his bladder and the reflux that kicks urine back into his kidney. The left side measured a 5 which is the highest level of reflux and he had a 2 on the right. All of this is common for kids with this defect. It was interesting to watch this done.

September 17, 2007

Test Results