Holiday recap

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

It's happened. I was ... what's a nice word? ... lightly "chastised" today for not being very diligent about updating my blog.

Rightly so. I admit, the holidays got the best of me. Between holiday programs at work, holiday shopping (God bless you, Internet), pre-school programs, and the holiday travel itself, it's been a doozy of a 17 days.

So here's a quick overview of the Christmas season in the Aalberts house:

On Friday, December 12 Owen and I went to see "Franklin's Family Christmas" at my theater with Owen's good buddy Philip, and Philip's mom Kelli and sister Jenna.

The show was cute and involved a "12 Days of Christmas" sing-along that made me wish I could wind back the clock and add it to a "Cocoa and Carols" show with my college show choir.

And there was face painting. Here are the boys done up like reindeer.

The following Tuesday was Owen's holiday party at his pre-school.

On Saturday the 20th, Amy and I got out for our Christmas treat, "A Rockapella Holiday," a fantastic Christmas show also at the BCPA. I'd first taken Amy to a Rockapella show when we lived in Ann Arbor, but this was even better. Just take a look at what they did to "The Driedel Song" and try to argue this isn't fun.



In the face of an advancing winter storm, we left for Iowa City on Monday night. It turned out to be a great idea as the winter weather ended up stranding Auntie Pam in Bloomington for the Christmas celebration.

Getting there a night early also gave us some extra time to do fun things like meet up with our good friend Jeff for lunch ...

... and have a little down time before going to Owen's Grampie's retirement party on Tuesday afternoon.

Grampie was richly honored for all of the terrific work he's done for The University of Iowa, from working in the General Counsel's Office, to being Business Manager, Interim Director of Facilities, and his current work managing the university's tax work. We all had lots of fun ... and Owen and Maya did a great job entertaining the crowd.

We then settled in for a nice Christmas celebration with the Ives. There were lots of

Pictures ...
Fancy Christmas outfits ...

And very tired babies ...

We drove home on Christmas day, finding out there was good reason for Maya's fatigue. When we got home Maya threw up ... truly a harbinger of things to come.

That night Pam came over. We'd managed to pack her Christmas presents into our car, so we enjoyed a larger family Christmas as we opened our own gifts that night.

On Friday we drove up to Grandpa and Nana's house outside of Chicago.

We had a nice dinner with the larger Aalberts clan on Friday night, but then I started feeling a little sick almost immediately after the meal was through. Feeling mostly dizzy, I went to bed at 7:30.

Over the course of the night the bug Maya carried with us back to Illinois caught up to everyone else.

My discomfort (how can I put this in a delicate way?) passed right after Owen got up ill with Amy at 3:00. At 4 we had Owen and Amy packed up into the car and were on our way to the ER, where Amy received a bag of fluid, and Owen some meds to help him restore his hydration.

We all recovered pretty nicely, though, enjoying more fun with my family. There were more naps as usual, especially as Nana came down sick the next night, but it proved to be a memorable weekend marking Grandpa's return to the pulpit for the first time since his Nov. 17 heart surgery. Daniel and I sang several times as a part of the service, making it a pretty special morning for all of us.

We went home on Monday morning, enjoying the warmer weather. And I returned to work on Tuesday, biking in ... a sharp contrast to what would have been possible when it was -5 degrees out just five days earlier.

Lastly, allow me to introduce you to the newest addition to our family, Owen's handsome new Betta fish he has named Porcupine. Owen Maya and I went down to the pet store and picked out Porcupine on Tuesday night, settling him into the little tank Owen got for Christmas.

Owen's been wanting a fish for a while, and we seem to have picked a winner, if by "winner" I mean, "A fish who survived his first night."

We'll keep you posted.

Little Hercules

Christmas countdown

It's raining and over 40 degrees outside at a little after 6:00 on Tuesday morning, but we all know winter ... and Christmas is here. Over the weekend we decorated the tree, keeping indoors a lot as the temps were usually half or a quarter what they are at this writing.

It was a good weekend. Owen and I went to the first half of the Billy Joel/Twyla Tharp musical "Movin' Out" at the BCPA on Saturday night. And Amy got out with her sister on Saturday for some Christmas shopping, giving me some additional time to play with Maya while Owen napped.

Maya is a girl on the move. She just doesn't want to be stopped, pulling herself up on everything and going going going.

Same with Owen. On Sunday night we took him to the gym to run some laps and burn off some of his energy. Amy was laughing that as Owen and I started on our run, he burst out of the turn, leaving me to "kick it into high gear" to catch up.

Later on Sunday night we came home and pulled out the hide-a-bed, popped some popcorn and watched a Charlie Brown Christmas video together. Owen laughed and laughed ... a nice way to end the weekend.

And the moral of the story is ...

"... Hare today, Goon tomorrow! "

Turkey Day

Happy Thanksgiving!

It was a festive Thanksgiving for the Aalbertses of Normal. Hopefully the same can be said for you!

Our Thanksgiving activities began last Tuesday with a special "Feast" at Owen's pre-school. The kids made pilgrim and Indian hats, sang songs, and enjoyed the "feast" of cornbread, turkey, and Craisins.

Then it was off to Nana and Grandpa Aalberts' house for a fun three days. Grandpa is doing great two weeks off of heart surgery. Owen saddled up next to Grandpa's recovery recliner for storytimes (when Grandpa wasn't enjoying a beaters-full of brownie frosting ...)

... and worked the crowd, until everyone else in the family had read him a few stories as well.

Maya, meanwhile, found her major captivation in the eyes of her Great Aunt Lorie's puppy Archie, who has become a kid favorite at all of our Chicagoland holiday gatherings.

A treat for me was spending my first Thanksgiving with my brother Daniel in 23 years. Daniel came home his freshman year at MIT, but opted for Columbus Day every year since, as it split the semester up better for him.

For me, it was fun to confirm my memories that he actually does like turkey and pumpkin pie.

We came home on Friday and enjoyed a busy weekend. We checked out the new exhibit at the Children's Discovery Museum, and cleaned out some boxes of stuff from the basement.

The only downer is that little Maya has been under the weather since we got back. While she has no symptoms other than a high fever, she's been really uncomfortable and needy for lots of extra cuddles and TLC. We're thinking her teeth are finally ready to come in.

While it was nearly 50 degrees out on Saturday, Sunday brought steady snows. Owen and I went out and shoveled our drive (as well as a couple of the neighbors'), had a snowball fight with the 3rd grader from next door, and last night built this snowman ...


Oh the industry you'll undertake when there's no Hawkeye football game to watch all weekend.

We missed the Ives family and send our love to Grammie and hope she feels better soon. But all in all it was a good Thanksgiving. We have much to be thankful for, as we confirmed on our last night at Grandma and Grandpa's. My dad began, expressing his thanks for the love and support he felt from us as he went through his surgery. Owen jumped in next with his "thankful for ..." list, which covered everything from trucks and trains, buses and tigers, but ended with a confident "I'm thankful for my family."

2/3

Hi. I'm eight months old today!

Going to the Picture Show

Owen's first trip to the movies!

Our little Owen thinks Madagascar is about the funniest thing ever, so so we thought it was the perfect time to take him to the theater for the first time to see Madagascar 2. We had a lot of fun!

It was interesting how different his perceptions of the event were from reality. He kept asking on our way there if this was the way to my (Joel's) theater. He's been to lots of shows at the BCPA (including the ABBA tribute band Bjorn Again last night) and assumed this would be in the same place. We didn't figure it out until the end, although his asking "What are we doing here?" when we pulled into the multiplex's parking lot should have given us a clue.

He was a great audience member and had a wonderful time. We ate lots of popcorn, snapped lots of pictures ...

And he zonked right off when we started driving home. It was a big day!

In other news, we're pleased to report that Grandpa Aalberts is home from the hospital. He went home on Friday and is doing well. He's continuing to work on his breathing exercises and he no doubt had a grand time watching Iowa dismantle Minnesota in the final game of the season last night.

We're glad your home, Grandpa!

Maya had a fun afternoon today with Auntie Pam. She also had a giggly morning playing ball with Owen in the hallway.

And take a look at how she's getting up on everything. This girl is going to be walking in no time.

Post-op

Hey. A quick note about Dad, in case you're coming here looking for more information about his heart bypass this past Monday.

Dad is doing great. They moved him from the ICU to an intermediate care room today. They did four bypasses on Monday morning. We got to see him at 1:00 and the next couple hours were pretty rough as he was coming out of the anesthesia and suffering with the breathing tube. He did an amazing job of using charade moves, sign language, and a note pad to communicate and let us help him with the cramping in his back (from the ribs being spread) and phlegm in his throat.

Things got much better once he was extabated and the pain meds were administered more regularly. We left him Monday night resting comfortably and, indeed, he got some good rest.

By Tuesday he was sitting up in a chair, and even made his first walk (see below). Today has involved three (soon to be four) more walks, and the removal of the drainage tubes they'd inserted below his chest.

I can't even tell you how impressed I have been with his courage and determination. For a 67 year old man who has never been treated in a hospital before, he's a model patient.

I went up on Sunday night and came home after his first walk on Tuesday. Amy's mom drove in to help out around the house, as the hospital was not going to be a place for little bodies at the beginning of this week. Owen got to talk to Grandpa after his surgery on Monday evening though, even singing him "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," which was very sweet.

Everyone is eager to see him next week for Thanksgiving!

If you want regular updates, check out his site at http://www.caringbridge.org/. Enter leonaalberts, and you can leave him a note and get updates on his care.

24-23

It's been ages since my last post, and much has happened.

A week ago today, Amy, Owen, Maya, and I went to Iowa City to visit Amy's parents and meet up with my folks. The cornerstone of the weekend was the Iowa vs. Penn State football game, arguably the best football game either my Dad or I had ever seen live. Penn State came into the game undefeated, but walked out losers after a last second field goal put Iowa on top. More photos and video will undoubtedly follow, but if this doesn't get my dad's heart healthy as a prelude to his surgery this coming Monday, nothing will.

Except for maybe this.

Iowa football was very good to the Aalberts family last weekend. Calling on some of my old UI friends (thanks again, Janis!) I was able to make contact with Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz' office and get this for Dad.

Ferentz inscribed the ball, "Keep your heart beating for the Hawks. Best wishes and get well soon." Dad was delighted. And it helped add to the tremendous sense of optimism Dad and everyone else has for a for a successful surgery and speedy recovery.

Meanwhile, the rest of the family enjoyed time reading books and practicing their standing skills.

Maya is really a lady on the move. She's always wanting to walk and is standing well when she can hold onto something.

It made for a fun homecoming on Wednesday night. After the game, Mom, Dad, and I drove back to Normal so I could catch a flight to Houston on Sunday morning. I went to Houston for the National Arts Marketing Project, a terrific conference I attended in Miami last year. It was fun to attend some great sessions, meet new people, and see old friends, including my friend Abby, who I used to work with at the BCPA.

But it was even better getting home and reconnecting with my little people here. Boy, did I miss them!

Corn Update: Week 18 -- The Harvest!

Finally!

Owen was sick enough not to go to day care today, but the two of us got out a little after work. First, we went to play on some swings on the park, then we drove up to check out the corn.

Let me just say it's amazing how dark it is now at 5:15 (Stupid time change!)! But we both started giggling when we drove up to our corn field to find the harvest was complete. The field looked so big and empty, even in the dark. We parked the car and ran across the street. It really was something to see after so many months of weekly visits.

Speaking of day care, Owen has his last day at Kim's on Friday. At 3.5 this weekend, he's really ready for pre-school, which he will have on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons beginning tomorrow. We'll keep you posted.

And BOO!

Before I'm done, I'll add some photos and a video from Halloween. We had an awesome time on Friday. Perfect weather, a fun Hawkeye theme. And it was fun having Nana and Grandpa down to share in the fun.

It was also fun to taunt the Michigan fans in the neighborhood with Owen's friend Philip (the little Buckeye).

Corn Update: Week 17 - Plus a Halloween preview

Back to the corn. Seriously, I can't imagine we're going to be back out here next week. Dry. Ready to pick. A hard frost last night. It's time.

That said, this was one of our most fun visits. The stalks have lost lots of leaves and there was a nice opportunity to step back into the rows of corn and explore a bit. We dug around, looked at how the ears were different sizes. It was fun.

At home, Maya has been feeling pretty under the weather. Her head cold really kicked into high gear yesterday. Very snuffly. Not very good sleep (for anyone). But she's a trooper. And I'm sure she's going to be feeling better today. Last night was definitely better than the night before.

Looking forward to Halloween. We went out last Friday night for a special night of trick or treating in downtown Bloomington.

So I guess it's time to do the reveal on Owen's Halloween costume for the year.

First, here's Maya in some sassy Halloween clothes.

And here's O. #7 in your programs, but #1 in your hearts ...

GO HAWKS!