"This babe is blazin' hot!" or "Sasha's Smile"

OMG! She looks stunning on her red carpet debut!

She is such a trooper! She went in to the University of Minnesota Fairview Childrens Hospital on Tuesday for her first cleft palate surgery. She was doing great, but Caitlin was a basket. Caitlin was up, she was down, she was left, she was right, she was spinning in circles. Caitlin cried when Sasha went into surgery around 1:00 p.m. We waited for word of how things went until around 4:45 p.m. It was the longest three hours, forty five minutes ever. When we were finally able to see her, she was groggy, but looked amazing. Caitlin, being a basket case, cried again, but this time tears of relief.

Upstairs in her room, Sasha did really well. They got her settled for the night and Erica, Mason and I left. But Erica ran into a young gal in the restroom whose son had just had his second surgery. She invited Caitlin to come and visit her if she wanted to talk to someone. Caitlin and I walked over and introduced ourselves to Colleen and her son Kaden. He looked great. He had his first surgery in June and you could barely see the scar. They talked for a really long time and exchanged phone numbers and myspace page information. What a great connection.

Russell and I returned on Wednesday first thing in the morning. We were expecting to take over and send Caitlin home for a nap. Lo and behold, we got there just in time for her release. She left the hospital just before noon. The photo was taken just outside the patient elevators as we were heading home.

Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and prayers during this really difficult time for their little family. It really has made a difference.

Minnesota Zoo

Mason Andrew Mikish

Mason Andrew Mikish

6 pounds 1 ounce

19 1/2 inches long

Born Feb 4, 2009

Mason is such a snuggler. Don't we have the best looking grandkids? Every single one of them are amazing! Mason is no exception. He looks just like Erica, sorry Andy. He is so quiet.

Here is Mason Andrew Mikish and Andy (aka Dad.) Andy is so excited about this baby. He has plans for Mason's basketball career. Let the poor kid grow a little before you sign him up for the NBA.

Mason's Faux Hawk


Uncle Matt and Mason

Here I am, with the grandkids, Sasha, Ezra and Haven.

Here is Ezra in all his charming best. He is my blue-eyed, blond baby!

Welcome Mason

Mason was born yesterday afternoon! Erica was diagnosed with cholestasis and had gone into the clinic on Tuesday morning to have an amniocentisis to make sure that his little lungs were fully developed. After having the test, which by the way is not nice and involved 8 inch long needles being inserted into your abdomen, we went home to wait for the results.

That evening she received the call from Dr. Ritter that he was fully developed and they could induce her. She went back around 7:30 p.m. and got settled in for the night with some medicine inserted into her cervix to ripen it.

They started pitocin around 9 a.m. yesterday and right away Erica had contraction after contraction. Mason's heart rate dropped, then disappeared and they had a frantic several minutes while they searched for it. Fortunately he had just moved a little. But they stopped pitocin and put Erica on oxygen. She labored for two hours on her own. Then the pitocin was started again. About an hour into the pitocin, Mason's heartrate dropped dramatically again. This time they decided that they would break her water. That really started it. She moved really fast into labor and Mason was born at 3:36 p.m. That was a 6 hour, 36 minute labor and delivery! Both Erica and Andy are absolutely in love with this little guy.

He is absolutely gorgeous! Six pounds, one ounce, 19 1/2 inches long He is so tiny and perfect. He had to spend the night in the nursery so they could monitor his breathing. He was breathing faster than they like to see. I will post some pictures when we get some. He was whisked away so fast yesterday that I couldn't get any.

Cabin Fever

You know that you are a victim of cabin fever when you do this! We think that he may be "untreatable." But there you have it. This is what a harsh, cold Minnesota winter does to a perfectly sane Brit!Matt wrestled for St. Croix Valley Athletic Association this winter. The wrestling program is really robust and encourages kids to attend lots of meets and even go to state if they earn a place. We were not able to make that kind of time and money commitment this year, but Matt really liked it and participated in the Pony Stampede. It's a local meet that ends the season for the kids. He had a great time!

Matt's first match.

Matt won a bronze medal and was very proud of it. He is such a sports nut! All you really need to do to get the kid moving is tell him that there is a medal involved and he will work his butt off. The medal has a place of honor above the piano hanging on his school photo.

Erica and I are going to the hospital first thing in the morning. We may be bringing a little blue package home soon. I will keep you posted.