Christmas Time

Christmas!!!! What a day that was. :)

On Christmas Eve, Kimber and Elias didn't want to go to bed. Kimber even got up out of been around 10:45pm to see if Santa had been here yet...not yet. He didn't get up again until after 7:00am, when Greg got him up.

Kimber was so excited he jumped right to the presents. He saw some Matchbox/Hotwheels that were not wrapped --- they wouldn't fit in the stocking. Of course he wanted to open the largest gift 1st, but we wouldn't let him. He kept going back to it. We still wouldn't let him open it. It was going to have to be the last present he opened. He wan't to happy about that, but he was super excited to see he got 2 sets of wall tracks for hotwheels. Just what he had asked Santa for. We finally let him open the large gift....it was a boat with a shark. There are different parts to the boat so he can design the boat how he wanted to. It also floats in water --- he wanted a bath right away. Which he didn't get until after 6:00pm.

Kimber ended up helping Elias with open his gifts. Elias just wanted to play with the cars and trucks. Once he realized that he gets more toys when he opens the presents, he started opening them. Well, only a few. He was getting to distracted.

They both enjoyed playing with their new toys. Kimber surprised all of us with a big generous move. He gave Elias one of the wall tracks!!! That made Elias happy, but I think it made Kimber the happiest. He was so happy now that both of them had a wall track to put up on their walls. Both Greg & I was very proud of him.

This year we didn't have any of "That is MY toy!!" and they combined their toys instead of putting them in separate piles. What big boys we have. We hope that this phase will last a long time!

Our Boys....

As I put the boys to bed tonight, I couldn't help but think how lucky I am. Seeing them sleep, so peaceful....it is so hard to describe the feeling. I love them so much.

Both are growing up so fast, I can't believe it. Kimber was born 3 months early and at that time, we didn't know what we were going to do, what was going to happen to him. Was he going to have long term health problems, was he going to be okay, is he going

to make it through the night???? Well, he has grown up to a wonderful boy! I can't believe that it has been almost 6 years. He is going to be starting kindergarten this fall.

Elias will be 20 months on the 7th. He is doing wonderful. He is starting to talk...train, crash, mom, daddy, truck, shoe. We even got him to say Christine tonight, his cousin. What another little amazing boy.

Elias loves to do whatever his big brother is doing. He wants the same toy that Kimber has. Of course, if he doesn't get it, then he starts crying. Sometimes Kimber will give into him and give whatever it is that he wants to him.

I love our boys so much. They are so amazing and can always put a smile on my face when I really need one. They both love to give hugs and kisses. I don't know wh

at I would do without them.

Kimber and Elias --- Your dad and I love you so much! We are very happy to have you in our lives and part of our family! Keep growing the way you are. You both have such wonderful personalities and so very cute!!!!

Mr. Speedy

Mr. Speedy

August 1996 - March 2 2011

Mr. Speedy,

You have been a wonderful part of our family. I remember the day that you joined our family. You were just a little ball of fur, only a few months old. You would run up and down the hallway of our apartment. That is how you got your name. You would not slow down until you were ready to go to bed. Then you would lay in the small of our backs. You were so small that we would roll over on you and you wouldn't move at all.

We loved the way you would eat fish food, climb up the Christmas trees, and eat cantalope that we had prepared for the iguana.

It has been a wonderful 15 1/2 years! We love you and will miss you forever! Mittens has been waiting for you to be with him again. You and him were best pals.

This was a very sad day! We still miss him and keep looking at his special spots and expect him to be there.

Greg

Where to start....

Greg is currently in the CICU at Ridgeview Medical Center. He was admitted on Monday (June 14, 2010). This has been a very scary situation. So much has happened and fast. We are not exactly sure where it has all started.

Greg had a spinal tap on May 5th. The experience was not good. The results came back with nothing wrong -- no extra fluid on the brain & whatever tests they ran on the fluid came back clean.

About a week later I noticed an open wound on his backside. Concerned about it, went to our family practitioner and he stated that it is a cyst and we set up an appointment with a surgeon to look at it. It was infected so he was prescribed some antibiotics.

Greg was still having migraines. He also just didn't feel good. We thought it was just the infection and the antibiotics.

We went to his neurologist on June 3rd as a follow-up from his spinal tap. Due to Greg missing a number days of work, Greg ask his doctor to give him a "back to work pass". The doctor decided that he should not work for 4 weeks until we can get the migraines under control.

Well that night he ended up with diarrhea. He thought it was something he at. Well it went on for 5 days and he started getting a fever. Finally got him to go to the doctor and got an appointment for Friday, June 11th. They took some samples to run some tests and they said they would have the results back in a few days. Well, Saturday the fever got up to 103.7, he was having more of the hot and cold spells. I decided to take him to the ER, which he really didn't want to go, but new he needed to --- something just wasn't right.

The doctors gave him some fluids, ran tests and came back and said that he has colitis (infection of the intestines). They gave him a dose of antibiotics and some more pain medication, Oxycodone (he was already on Oxycontin - prescribed by his neurologist). The gave him the choice of either going home or stay. Greg decided to go home. He doesn't like staying at hospitals, plus he was feeling better.

Due to he was rehydrate, the diarrhea started back up. Fever came back as well as the hot and cold spells. He wanted to give it more time for the antibiotics to work and didn't want to go back to the hospital. Finally Monday night, things just weren't right. Greg was not waking up very well and not walking on his own. I called the ER to double check on taking him back in, mainly to show Greg that someone else said to go in, he didn't want to believe me. So I took him to the ER again. We got there and Greg could not get out of the car very well. The nurse was really surprised that I got him to the hospital and so was I.

After they examined him they came and told me that he had a narcotic over dose, kidney failure, liver damage, pneumonia, and the intestinal infection. He was very, very, very sick. Greg was going to be admitted into the CICU. Monday night was a rough night.

Tuesday: He was waking up more, but still sleeping a lot. He knew where he was, the month, year, and names. He was repeating things over and was just talking about stuff. Changing what he was talking about in mid sentence. The doctor thought this was due to the infections and withdrawal from Oxycontin. They started him back on the Oxycontin to help him.

Wednesday: Still sleeping a lot. This time he didn't know what date it was (thought it was October 9th), where he was, couldn't name his brother's or his dad's name. He did know who we were when we went to visit him, including his grandma (she just came to town from Utah). Greg wanted to get out of bed and leave the room when Elias started crying. He got very angry when we wouldn't let him get out of bed and didn't understand. The nurses had to distract him and we were able to leave.

Thursday: Up more, still didn't know what date it was, thought it was October 10th. He didn't know where he was - thought he was in a garage working on vehicles and was wondering why there were people in the other garage when he was looking out the room window. They have a nurses aid in with him so he doesn't try to take the IV's out and get out of bed without help. They have been wonderful help.

Greg had an EEG to make sure he wasn't having seizures. That came back stated no seizures. Greg was going to have an MRI and a lumbar puncture, but he worked himself up so much they couldn't do either. They are now scheduled for today (Friday, 6/18/10).

Thursday evening he was doing better with his memory. He had called me to ask to have me bring the boys up to see him, along with a blue Popsicle. :) When we got there, he was sitting up in a chair. He wanted to make sure he was awake when we got there. We talked for a little bit and Kimber was able to give him a hug and kiss.

Kimber was so happy to see his dad, but still very sad that he had all the IV's and that he couldn't come home with us. Kimber had stated on Tuesday that his dad needed flowers to get better. So our neighbor, Tracy, gave us some fake flowers to put in a vase to give to Greg. Greg loved it! Kimber misses his Dad so much.

We are going back up to the hospital today. Hopefully they will have run all the tests they need to today by the time we get up there.

I would like to thank everyone for the calls, the support, and all the prayers. I am trying to keep everyone updated as much as possible.

Brothers --- Kimber & Elias

Kimber & Elias have the greatest time being brothers!!!

Kimber loves to play with Elias. Kimber is learning how to share his toys with his brother. He does make sure the toy does not have sharp edges and isn't to small (or to big). A few weeks ago Kimber & I went to the grocery store. We happened to go pass a section with matchbox cars. Of course Kimber had to have one. While he was looking at them, he picked his out, put it in the cart, went back picked one more out, put it in the cart, and said "that is for Elias". I was so proud of him for thinking of his brother.

Kimber also loves to make Elias laugh. If Greg or I are playing with Elias and making him laugh, Kimber has to jump into the action and start getting Elias to laugh too. Kimber gets the biggest reaction out of Elias. When Kimber gets up to go get a drink of water or to go to the bathroom, Elias will watch him and as soon as Kimber is out of sight, Elias will start crying. Kimber will come back and say that he will be right back. That gets repeated a number of times.

Elias loves playing with Kimber too. Elias wants to play with whatever Kimber has. Elias will get upset if he can't have the same type of toy. He thinks he can have everything too. He still puts everything into his mouth so we have to be careful of what he plays with. Kimber is good to keep the Lego pieces out of the way.

Elias is getting around really well. He does a great job pulling himself with his arms with a little help with his legs. It shouldn't be much longer before he started crawling on "all fours". Because of this Kimber has now started putting up baricades around a section that Elias can't get into. It had started with just a small corner, but now it is almost half of the living room. I am going to try to get it back down to the small corner.

Kimber has been a wonderful big brother. He loves taking care of Elias.

Thank you Kimber!!

You have been a great big brother!

Next Step.....

I can't believe that Elias is now 5 months old. He is growing so much. When we were at his 4 month doctors appointing he now weights in at 18.2 Lbs.

He loves watching Kimber play and is wanting to grab everything he can get his hands on and put it in is mouth.

On the 3rd Elias rolled over onto his stomach for the 1st time. We were all so excited. He had been "practicing" for a few days now. He would get on his side and just end back up on his back. He hasn't figured out how to get back onto his back from his stomach, but that will come soon enough.

Picture of Elias just after he rolled over.

Elias is also starting to eat solid foods. He enjoys getting a hold of the spoon and tries to feed himself. He is not so sure about some of food, but he still tries them all that we feed him. We have figured that he loves to try to eat anything we eat. He really loves bread. He does a really good job at "gumming" it. He also loves to drink out of our glasses. While we are drinking he will try to grab the glass. When we do give him the cup he does a great job holding it and putting it up to his mouth. Now the job of getting all the drink to stay in his mouth. :)

Elias Gunner Newson

Elias Gunner Newson had decided that he wanted his birthday to be October 7, 2009. This is the day before the scheduled c-section.

8 Lbs 12.7 oz
22 inches long/tall
11:30 am

Everyone is doing good. Kimber loves his little brother. He wants to hold him all the time. Kimber has also tried to share his toys with Elias. I don't know how long this will actually last.

We came home on Oct 10th and Elias weighted in at 8 Lbs 3 oz. Then on Oct 19th for his 2 week (12 day) check-up he weighted in at 9 Lbs 8 oz. The doctor was just hoping that he would be back to his birth weight. Well, he was that plus some. :)

Pregnancy Update

We are now a little over 31 weeks. Which we are very happy about since Kimber was born at 26 weeks 6 days. There have been a number of things that I have had to do this pregnancy. First I had to start seeing a High Risk Perinatologist and my regular OB. The perinatologist stated that I need to start having an ultra sound done every 2 weeks to make sure that my cervix didn't start opening up. This started at 20 weeks until 29 weeks. There were parts about this that I didn't care about --- have to drive 45 minutes (in good traffic), pay for parking, and Kimber couldn't come along --- no kids in the ultra sound room. I did like being able to see the growth of the baby, which at 27 weeks the baby measured to be a 29 weeks baby and a little of 3 Lbs, more that what Kimber weighted when he was born.
The perinatologist also suggested for me to start with progesterin shots every week. This is something that has only been around for a few years, but they have had a very high sucess rate. Our insurance company would cover these shots, well at least 80% of the cost. So since this was in our best interest, I started getting the shots. The shots helped to keep my uterus from contracting. I only have a few more shots left. They only give them until 36 weeks. Another plus for these shots --- I don't have to drive anywhere, the nurse comes to our home and gives me the shot here. I have had 2 very nice nurses.
Now that I am 31 weeks I don't have to see the High Risk Perinatologist. On Friday I saw my regular OB and I asked if there were any more tests that I was going to have to do. Well, the answer was Yes. Starting next Friday (Aug 28th) I get to go in every week for an ultra sound to make sure the baby is still moving around, stretching, "breathing" (chest moving like it was breathing), and making sure there is still pleanty of aminotic fluid around the baby. Then after the ultra sound, I have see the doctor. I am just glad that this is at the hospital that my doctor is in, so no more 45+ minute drives--- as long as I don't go into labor before 34 weeks. If I go into labor between now and when I am 34 weeks, and the doctors can't stop the labor, then I will be transferred to Abbott in Minneapolis, the same hospital that Kimber was born at. Now that is a 55 miles drive from our home.
Kimber was with me at this appointment. The doctor asked him where she should put the "doppler" to listen to the baby's heart beat. He pointed right above my belly button. So that is where she started and that happened to be right on the spot. Kimber was so proud of himself!!! Good job Kimber!!!!
We did find out what we are having at the 1st ultra sound with the perinatologist, when both Greg & Kimber went. We are having another boy! Kimber is so excited about this. He was really happy to see the pictures of the baby too. Kimber wouldn't let us have the print out of the ultra sound --- they were his. :) It was really cute!!!
Kimber has so excited about having a little brother. He loves to come up to my belly and give it a kiss, talk to it, and just lay his head on my belly trying to listen/feel the baby. He gets so excited whe he feels it kick. He has asked a number of times if the baby is out yet. Of course we have to tell him no and that it isn't time yet. The baby will come out after his birthday. He doesn't understand this part yet.
We have scheduled our c-section for October 8th. Let's hope that we can make it to that date. So far, so good...... We do have the nursery mostly done, we just need to paint the walls. We do have the crib set up and clothes out. We are basically ready for the baby, but need to get the small diapers, we just don't know what size to get, so we are waiting on that...

June Vacation

I know that this post is long over due, but late then never..... In June we had a wonderful visitor come, Greg's Grandma. We all love it when she visits. This year we went up to Duluth. We love going up there for the scenery and every 4 years they have the Minnesota Quilt show. This year we stayed at HiBank Resort in one of their little cabins by a lake. I have to admit, it was great place for boaters, but as for a small beach for kids to play ---- nothing there. We still had fun. Kimber had a blast throwing rocks into the lake, watching the boats, and watching the dogs jumping into the water after a ball. While up in Duluth we did a number of things: We went on about a 2 hour train ride. Kimber really loves his trains and really enjoyed the ride. Greg & Kimber even went out to the open car and rode 1/2 of the time back there. Kimber loved it and didn't want to get off. We went on a boat tour of Lake Superior and of course Kimber was all over the boat. Loved being out on the water and seeing the other boats out on the lake. We were all really impressed by all the huge ships!!! We also got to see a lot of ducks, geese, and other animals.

Greg & Kimber went to the Great Lakes Aquarium while Grandma and I went to the quilt show. Kimber had so much fun at the Aquarium, he didn't want to leave. He even got to pet sting rays and sturgeons. Once they found the water with toy boats, Kimber couldn't get enough of them. He outlasted all the other kids there --- about an hour. Kimber ended up finding a toy boat in the gift shop that was just like the other boats and of course WOULDN'T leave the store without it. There was also a park made out of wood that Kimber had so much playing on.


On the way back home we stopped off at Jay Cooke State Park, walked across the Swinging Bridge, and saw some small water falls. Kimber of course wanted to throw rocks into the water. He did a great job. We would recommend going there for everyone.

Kimber was having so much up in Duluth he didn't want to leave. He did do a great job with the car ride both ways. He had a great time keeping Grandma entertained. They had a lot of fun playing who is going to beat. We also used/use this game to get Kimber to finish things or to go inside the house. Kimber was so sad when Grandma left. He didn't want her to leave. He still says that he misses her. Can't wait for the next time she comes out or we go to Utah.

Due in October

Kimber is going to be a big brother, hopefully in October. The reason why I say "hopefully" is due to that Kimber was a 3 month extreme preemie. We are hoping the this one will stay put for the full 9 months.

We found out that I was pregnant on Feb 11th with a home pregnancy test. We then went to the doctor's office on March 10th and it was confirmed that I was pregnant. The due date is October 14th. So at this point I am 10 weeks. At the doctor appointment we had our first ultrasound done to confirm a heart beat, a strong one for that matter. Greg & Kimber were both at the appointment and were able to see the ultrasound. We saw the heart beat and the baby moving. What an exciting moment. It took Greg a few moments to see everything on the screen, he was amazed by it.

Kimber does understand that there is a baby in mom's belly. He points to it sometimes and says Mom's baby, Dad's baby. He is not sure if he wants to be a big brother. I think it is because he doesn't understand yet. We will have to wait and see what happens when the baby is born. He loves seeing and taking care of babies. I know that he is going to be a big helper!!!!

Two Families Get Together

Greg, Kimber, & I drove down to Kansas City to meet Ryan and his family on March 5th. We stayed at a really fun lodge, Great Wolf Lodge. I haven't seen Ryan for about 4 years and Greg hasn't seen him for about 10 years. Way to long of time.

At the lodge there was a very fun water park. Kimber could have spent all day there if we let him. There was a slides for little kids under 48". He loved it and finally put his head under water without complaining. He would even lay on his back to go down the slide. Ryan even took him a "Big Boy" water slide. He did great! Kimber then took Greg down the water slide.

Kimber was able to spend a lot of time with his cousin, Samantha. Samantha is almost 5 years old and is about an inch taller than Kimber, but Kimber weights about 5 lbs more than Samantha. The two of them wanted to spend all their time together. They were having so much fun. The lodge had a "search" game for them to play. They had a wand that they would point at different items throughout the lodge and they would gather gold coins and different items. They learned how to share due to that they only got 1 wand. They would take turns with pointing it to the different items.

Of course, since there was a Cabelas next door, we had to stop in and look around. Kimber loves looking at all the animals.

Greg took Ryan and Erick to Bass Pro Shop to go shooting. Ryan stated that that part of the trip was Erick's best part. They all had fun shooting though.

We left on the 7th to come back home. Kimber was very sad and didn't want to leave. The drive was nice. Kimber had his own little DVD player and had head phones on. Greg & I were able to listen to our own music or talk. Greg even took a nap on the way home.

We had a lot of fun on this trip. I am glad that we were able to do it since Ryan has now been deployed to Iraq, for the 3rd time. I know that everyone will miss him while he is gone and hope and pray for his safe return home.

Thank you Ryan & Tera for the wonderful trip!!!!

The Beard

Greg has not shaved/trimmed his beard for over 6 months. It was getting pretty long. He finally trimmed it. Here are some before and and after pictures.

I know I like the shorter beard and I think Kimber does too. Greg did get a number of comments before he trimmed it and after. Some were: When are you going to shave it? Looks a lot better. Now you look like a pretty guy.

I think Greg is going to keep it trimmed for the next while. We will have to see how long that lasts.

Migraines, Migraines, and more Migraines.....

Greg is still suffering from migraines. On Dec 30th he had an MRI of his neck to see if there was anything there causing them. We got the results from the doctor the other day at Greg's appointment. They got good images, but nothing there causing to cause migraines. It did show his bones deteriorating, which the doctor said was normal. In some ways we were happy to hear this, but still unhappy that we still haven't found a reason for the migraines.

Next step: Due to all the meds Greg is on, he has gained weight and doesn't get a good night sleep and has a hard time breathing. While talking to his doctor, he suggested to have sleep study done. The doctor says that sometimes migraines are due to not getting enough oxygen to the brain and not getting into the deep sleep. So now we have it scheduled to go in for a consultation for the sleep study. Then they will determine the time for the sleep study. Greg also has to do some breathing meditation, mainly for his breathing, for about 10 minutes twice a day. We will see how well this goes.

2008 Christmas

We had been telling Kimber that Santa was coming to our home. The 1st time that we told him, he screamed "NO!!! NO!!! NO!!!". He remembered his experience from sitting on Santa's lap. Finally we were able to get him excited about Santa. He was starting to love the idea. He still have times that he didn't want Santa to come.


Kimber finally figured out he loves to open gifts. We had put some gifts under the tree and he tried to open one almost everyday for about 2 weeks. On Christmas Eve we let him open one gift. He was so excited about it, he wanted to open more. He opened a semi-truck w/4 little trucks. He loved it!!! He even took it to bed with him.

Christmas morning Kimber wasn't in any hurry to get up and open his gifts. We were able to even get him dressed. It finally clicked and he went for his first present. He took many hours to open his gifts. He wanted to play with each one after. We had a wonderful Christmas at home.

Other site

I know that I had started another web page, but I have decided to go this route. I will keep the other site due to what I have already posted and the pictures. Sorry for the confusion. I hope that you enjoy this site as well.

gnjnewson.webs.com is the other site.