Iverson year-in-review

Happy Holidays from the Iversons! We decided to do a green Christmas card again this year and put our letter on the blog. So hopefully you received this picture in your mailbox prompting you to come to our blog to read all about how the Iverson's spent the last year of the first decade of the new millennium. I still can't believe we got this shot of every kid smiling -- we only had to take about 15 pictures and that is not bad with a 7 mo old. I think I'll retell the highlights of our year in chronological order. In February, Bill and I hopped 'the pond' for a week trip to Cambridge, England where Bill was working with a medical student educator. Bill and a colleague are doing a joint venture with the medical school in Cambridge changing how communication skills are taught to medical students. We had a great time. It was Bill's first trip outside the Western Hemisphere. Turns out weather.com lied to us and we packed for pleasant 40 degrees and England got it's worse snow in 20 years. At the last minute I did throw in hats and gloves luckily, but we were without our real winter coats-- brrr! But we did all sorts of sightseeing anyhow and Cambridge after a fresh snow is one of the most magical places I have ever seen. I did lots of walking/waddling (I was about 28 weeks pregnant at the time) around town while Bill was working. We did have time in London on both ends of the trip for sightseeing and spent time with our great friends, Lizzie and Phil whom I had seen married in London 10/08. Here we are with the famous tower bridge.

In March the entire clan with my folks was supposed to go on a Caribbean cruise for spring break but I was TPTC-- too pregnant to cruise :-). So off the rest of the family went, my folks came to Iowa to be with me in case of early labor (I was dreaming). Bill and the kids flew out of Chicago and got to meet up with my parents driving east as my folks drove west and they had a nice quick visit on I-88. My mom bought the kids candy supplies for the trip. They had a great time on the cruise and it ended up being a wonderful for the three of them to be together before the arrival of the baby.

They snorkeled, ziplined and toured Mayan ruins. They tanned and ate and dressed up and got along (most of the time) -- success!

I dreamt of going early. I dreamt of going on my due date, 4/20/09. I dreamt of going on a perfect square date, 4/25/09. But alas, the Baby Lucas had other plans and I was induced at 41 weeks and a day on 4/28 and he still took almost an entire day to arrive. By slightly emergent C-section after 18 hours in labor and 4+ hours of pushing, Lucas Hawk Iverson arrived at 1:09 am on 4/29/09. My sweet boy weighed in at 8 lb 13.5 oz. He was face up and turned funny so his head was stuck. After my Ob pulled him out, she remarked... 'you never would have got this guy out by pushing, he was really stuck'. I never knew life could be so sweet as it has been since I had my son. Here is a shot of him right when we got to meet each other in recovery - he spent less than an hr in the NICU for observation. My sweet child was holding on to his mommy with both hands.

Later that day he got to meet his sister and brother. They both have done remarkably well with him around.

And Lucas met his biggest fan, Grandma, a few days after he arrived. Bill took a team to Mexico without me in late May and my mom came to help me with Lucas. It was such a fantastic time. I know not everyone has a great and helpful mom, but my mom is dynamite! and Lucas just loves her. It was a hard transition and the fatigue of having a newborn was overwhelming at times. I am so thankful not only for my parents but for my aunts and sisters-in-laws and friends near and far. I will never be able to fully extend my gratitude for everyone's support getting me through especially those first really hard six weeks. Bill's sister, Susie, did babysit this summer when I went back to work so Lucas didn't go into daycare until August and that was such a blessing.

Because our 'family vacation' was really the cruise, we didn't go anywhere this summer except I took Lucas, who's nickname is the bug, home to NY for a visit in July. Flying alone with a three month old is not for the faint of heart. I almost collapsed into my mom's arms out of sheer exhaustion when we arrived in Syracuse, but turns out she just wanted to hold the baby and not me :-) It was such a fun trip home and I got to show the bug all around my hometown--- I look forward to continuing those traditions in summers to come. Here we are at the famous Manlius Swan Pond.

Summer left and school started. Gabby is in 10th grade and Nile is now in 8th. Nile is still playing soccer and this summer he got pretty serious about playing golf. He and Bill tried to play a few times, but they are just so competitive that it doesn't work out. They compromised and Bill drove Nile around the golf course and then they both enjoyed the day.

Over Labor Day weekend, the Hawkeyes had their season opener. My folks were visiting so my mom stayed in the motor home that we tailgate at with the bug. Nile and I came out at halftime for a visit so I could feed him. Bug got decked out in his Hawkeye gear for each game and what a season we had. We were one high ankle sprain away from perhaps a perfect season. Stanzi is the man-zi! It is a good year (like all years) to be a Hawkeye.

For Father's Day, Nile bought Bill tickets to a Chicago Fire game in August. They went for an overnight and had a great time. Nile has been playing on a club team here in Iowa City and has been getting into watching professional soccer. We got to buy him some Arsenal gear while in England which is his favorite team.

Gabby ran cross country again this fall. She was injured most of last season so never really got in her groove. Did she ever get in her groove this year! She and her teammates trained really hard over the summer and throughout the fall and finished 3rd at State which was held on Halloween. Gabby is smart and doesn't work too hard in school so to watch her work so hard and succeed at something was really awesome - even she'll say this is the first thing she has ever worked for. Bill was bursting with pride at the meet. She was so proud of herself and the work she put in. She got the flu the week before state and didn't train much; she even missed the district meet. She ran her heart out at state, left it all on the course. She usually finished 3rd or 4th on her team, but at state she finished 5th. However if Gabby had not run, they would not have placed 3rd because the top 5 scores count and the 6th girl for Gabby's team was far enough back that the 4th place team would have gotten 3rd. That may all be confusing but suffice to say, Gabby helped her team get it done. Here is a shot of her coming down to the finish.

I have never seen Gabby smile so big as she did on this day after the race and when they got their awards. It was so fun to be there.

The day was only made better by Nile's play by play of Iowa's stunning win over Indiana on the phone- he should be a sportscaster when he grows up.

They are both doing really well in school. Gabby has doubled up in science taking both bio and chem this year so she will have time to take AP biology her senior year. She is enjoying her classes and especially likes Chemistry. She just got cast as Gretel in the Sound of Music which is this year's musical. She will tell you that she is excited her height is finally paying off :-) She is enjoying practice and getting to act like a five year old. The musical is in late February.

Nile is enjoying 8th grade. He doubled up in math and is already a year ahead so that means one of his math classes is the same as Gabby's. Thankfully they have it different periods.

Bill's work is going fine as is mine. I took a 40% faculty job at the PA program in September and am now 50% in the ER. It is a few more days a month at work but the PA days are only 8 hour days so I can get Lucas from the sitter and put him to bed. The 12 hour shifts in the ER were getting to be too much as a new mom- I was never seeing Lucas. I am now working 3 days a week and one weekend a month which is much better for all of us.

We continue our medical work in Mexico and did take Lucas for the first time on our trip in September - he was a champ! He did great with the travel, the insane heat and humidity and the disruption to his schedule. His new favorite toy was a cold water bottle from the ice cooler that he would hug and lick- it was hilarious... poor little guy getting dragged all over the world by his crazy parents. My folks are coming on our trip over New Years to help me with Lucas and I am praying he hasn't started crawling by then or we might be in trouble :-).

Our families are all well. All of our nieces and one lone nephew are delightful and growing up too quickly. My brother David's daughter Madison who lives in Syracuse is totally enthralled with the bug -she's 11- and we have really enjoyed our visits with her when we were home this summer and in early November.

There are alot more pictures and updates from our year on this blog so feel free to browse the archives. How quickly our lives have become sippy cups, teething rings and footed pj's :-). We are so blessed that everyone has been healthy this year. I am thankful for how much Gabby and Nile love their brother and how easy that transition has been. We have put a lot of thought and effort and prayer in how our new family functions. My complete joy at being a mom is boundless and my cup is overflowing with blessings.

Thanks for reading our year-in-review- feel free to leave a comment so I know you visited. We pray that your cup is overflowing as well with blessings and that you and your family have a safe and happy holiday and 2010. I can't begin to imagine what the first year of the second decade of the new millennium will bring the Iversons but we are ready (I hope).

All the best to you and yours,

Katie

thankful

i have a whole host of things to be thankful for this and every year (my consistent blogging is not one of them :-) ). however with a colleague at work having a still born child on tuesday, i think i'll make my thankful list just one. i am thankful for my healthy happy baby. i never thought life could be this great. God knew i needed my sweet baby Lucas and for him i am forever thankful. the thought of my complete happiness makes me weep with joy.

Mr Photogenic

So I haven't blogged in forever. I am going to get back to blogging really soon but wanted to put these pictures up. We are at my folks house for the week and we went to JCPenney for TBL's first photo shot. We thought we'd only buy just a 'few' but came out like $125 later--- i can't wait to paste these pictures all over my house!! The only thing I do regret is that I bought this outfit weeks ago, weeks before our entire football season came down to a game with OSU -- I realize, thanks for Molly, these are Buckeye colors and a Jim Tressel (gasp!) vest. Regardless, the Hawks will beat the Buckeyes and TBL's pictures came out super cute!

hope frames are 50% off at Hobby Lobby next week because we are going to need a lot!

hot stuff

today we tried on bug's halloween costume for size. i was lusting after the baby yoda costume for $29.99 but our friends found us this one for $3 and once i put him in it, it was like yoda who? i don't like chili peppers much but this is one that i would eat up if i could. how cute is he??

Our God is in charge, alive and on the move

I have been meaning to post this when we got back from Mexico but the time has just gotten away from me. TBL is napping so I'm trying to get caught up on some things. All of our efforts for our last Mexico trip was made worth it by one of the last patients we saw. The whole trip would have been worth it just for helping his lady and her son. It is evidence that the God I serve is alive and on the move.

In the fall of 2006 we took our second trip to Mazatlan. Our friends, Amber, Toni and Lance were with us on that trip. One of the clinics we ran was at a colonia called Tres Palmas. The church built a school in this colonia as the city did not feel it needed a school to educate the children of the 'dump scroungers'. The church stepped in and built the school for them. One of the patients we saw that day was a young woman whose chief complaint was 'my arm won't move'. Well I am always a bit cynical and in my head thought, 'of course it moves, it may hurt but it moves. everyone's arm moves'. Turns out I was wrong. This gal is unable to move her arm. She was hit by a car crossing the major highway in front of the colonia and must have injured her brachial plexus (the nerves that run basically through your armpit and control your arm). There is nothing that could be done for her. Even with the best physical therapy in the States she probably wouldn't have regained much if any movement.

Two years ago or so the government in the form of trucks of armed policeman showed up at Tres Palmas and told everyone they had to leave. No one actually owned the land they were living on and apparently someone bought it so the government was going to relocate the 'squatters' to another place. The people were given very little time to pack up their entire lives and move (I think less than an hour). The church quickly found out about it from a teacher at the school and took action. They went out with vehicles and manpower to help people move. The people were told they were being relocated to land that had been developed with power and sewage and divided into lots. When the people were taken to their new colonia called Loma Bonita (pretty hills) they were essentially dropped off in a field with nothing the government had promised. The church ran the mobile kitchen for months to help feed the people and they continued the school under plastic tarps. The residents of the new Loma Bonita are a resilent bunch and just started building their houses all over again. We now run clinics at Loma Bonita.

Back to the lady who can't move her arm, so now she lives at Loma Bonita. Last January we were there and she and I were both pregnant. We discussed when our babies were due and were excited to see each other again in the fall so our children could meet. So on our last day of clinic, here she comes pushing a baby carriage with her son in it. She came right over to me and was so excited to see Lucas. Her son was sick and needed to be seen. Apparently he was seen the day before at the hospital but she cannot afford the medicine and the breathing machine they recommended he use. He was having trouble breathing and had a bad cough. He saw our pediatrician, Dr Cara, and she knew exactly what he needed. If God wasn't with us before, here is where He showed up.
--we had the exact right inhaler to give him; we never buy inhalers as they are too expensive but take down some donated ones from time to time so our supply is always questionable.
--an infant needs a spacer which is an air chamber device to help deliver the medication from the inhaler. for the three clinics before this our pharmacist, Angie, was making spacers out small cardboard neosporin boxes that she rigged with tape. earlier this morning our nurse Roxie was cleaning out the triage box and found a spacer. we have had it in there for a few years and never remember we have it until after we actually need it. not today. Roxie had probably 30 minutes before this lady came found the spacer and gave it to Angie. they laughed about how helpful this would have been yesterday when Angie was making spacers like MacGyver. but if we had found it earlier, we would have surely given it away and not had it for this little boy
--the child also needed some steriod which we didn't have in liquid form but also quite randomly had in pill form. Angie had asked Bill before we left if she should bring her mortar and pestle with her. Bill kind of laughed knowing what a slip shot pharmacy we actually have and that Angie would not be compounding medications. well Angie didn't listen to Bill and brought it anyway. so now she was able to crush the medication safely for mom to give to the baby

as all this was going on I was watching it unfold and had this innate sense of this being the reason we had come. sure, we had seen 100s of other patients but it seemed like it all came down to this lady and her ill son. maybe it is because i have a son now the same age and can't imagine how helpless you must feel to have him be sick and without resources to help him. maybe it is because i remember her from that clinic long ago and have seen how she has coped with her disability. God knew exactly what we needed to treat this little boy. it is just the way He works ... how everything came together from the inhaler to the discovery of the lost spacer to the mortar and pestle.

this encounter gave our whole tired, weary, hot team the much needed boost. it reconfirmed our mission in Mexico and reenergized my faith. this i know...

God is in charge, his Son, Jesus, is alive risen from the dead and the Holy Spirit is on the move. sure the mystery of the Trinity is theologically confusing, but that doesn't mean it doesn't work.

another video

this one is off my camera and i think this is easier

Lucas playing

This is my first attempt to export from the video camera to the computer and the blog via youtube.

baby yoda or a sheep?

we got this great shot of lucas today when his onesie was half way on. hilarious. he looks like baby yoda or a sheep. i have decided not to post tons of pictures on the blog as my blog storage space is being quickly used up; rather i am going to be putting most of my pictures on facebook. for those of you who follow my blog and are not on facebook, please let me know your email addresses and i can give you access to those photo albums if you would like.

sad already

i think i have been having trouble the past few days with my milk supply. TBL has been getting up more at night to eat, fussier while eating and i'm not getting much when i pump. ugh! makes me stressed though i know stress can make it worse. we tried our second kind of formula yesterday and he wouldn't drink it. i barely have enough milk for tomorrow. i didn't know how i would like breast feeding. it has been painful and challenging and wonderful and tiring. TBl usually holds on to my breast with both hands when he eats and sometimes pauses eating for a smile and a laugh like he is just having the time of his life nursing. a few nights ago when i picked him up to change him to the other side, he thought he had arrived and grabbed both sides of my face and began to try to suck my nose. it was so sweet and wonderful to feel his little hands on my face. he quickly realized he wasn't where we wanted to be and there was almost an audible sigh of relief when he arrived in the proper position to eat again. my friend ellen just said when she stopped nursing her son she cried and i was thinking, i'm not going to be sad. i'll have more freedom and less pain etc but sitting in my afternoon meetings thinking that i may be done nursing TBL made me almost start to cry. whether it ends tomorrow or in 12 months, i'm desperately sad already. it is not for everyone and some women cannot do it to no fault of their own, but it sure is for me and TBL. i love to watch him eat, drinking in his smell and having him fall asleep on my lap. seriously this is the best life ever. my mom was right. thank you Jesus for my sweet bug and please help my milk not dry up just yet-- i'm not quite done with nursing my son.

no greater compliment

I have always had the sense that I was blessed with an extraordinary unique set of parents. I don't look anything like either of them but I do know that I am theirs. I have seen the blurry pics still on slides that my dad took during my delivery. My dad has a famously steady hand but apparently it was shaky the day I was born due to excitement over having a baby girl. I was louder and more vocal than either of my parents and I never grew up with people saying you are just like your mom or just like your dad. I look like my Grandma Cook and my volume of my voice comes from my dad and the rate and quantity of speech comes from my mother.

Now as a mom, I realize I am just like my mother. Sometimes Bill says 'Ok Linda (my mom's name)' when I make a crazy statement like "don't put the little plastic $1 fan too close to TBL's face for you may snip off his nose" etc. My mom is indeed a bit overcautious with us but after carrying and delivering TBL I know my mom is just being overprotective of her investments.

She was a wreck when we decided to take TBL to Mexico. Calling all the time with something else to be worried about and I assured her we had it under control. My brothers and I so highly regard our parent's influence and advice that sometimes the line is a bit blurry. My brother, David, said to me while I was talking to him while in the Houston airport that "I can't believe Mom is letting you take Lucas to Mexico". A funny comment really because Lucas is actually my child but a sweet comment too because the three of us, Cook kids, hold our parents in such high esteem that we don't really do anything they don't 'give permission' for even in our late 30s.

While growing up I would recommend movies to my mom like 'My Girl' and 'Steal Magnolias' and my mom refused to watch them. After a terrible recovery after watching 'Terms of Endearment' she hasn't watched any movies or read any books about a child dying before a parent or a parent dying and leaving her children. I used to think she was crazy. She missed out so many good movies and books. But now I know she is not crazy. She is just a mother. The thought of anything happening to me before I get to see Lucas grow up is horrifying. The thought of anything happening to Lucas is paralyzing. I almost stop breathing thinking of my child hurt. I was picking out library books for our trip and while reading the book jackets, this is what happened.

Book #1 "While grieving the loss of her child..." -nope not that one

Book #2 "Dealing with her mother's untimely death..." -nope not that one

Book #3 "Surviving the kidnapping of her 4 year old..."- seriously are these supposed to be entertaining?

I am going to be reading comic books at this rate. I did finally find some 'non offensive' books to check out and then on the walk home picked up my phone and called my mom to tell her I finally understand.

I may not look like my mom, but I am just like her. Call me Linda all you want. Think I am crazy for steering away from 'entertainment' which puts voice to my greatest fears. There is no greater compliment.

TBL does Mexico

So we made it back in one piece. It was sure hot and humid. I went in with zero expectations. I told Bill before we left "I am expecting the trip to be terrible. Us to be fighting because TBL is grumpy and hot and we are grumpy and hot" I decided if I set the bar at zero I wouldn't be disappointed. Turns out it was much better than I expected. TBL did great considering the weather. It was so hot and humid. Think of the most hot and humid day you have ever experienced while in the continental US and then add about 20 degrees with no airconditioning. UGH! We did see a record number of patients, 140, on the hottest day we have ever had in Mexico in our 4 years of trips. There was plenty to be thankful for. We had a nice breeze one day when we had clinic in a building with no walls (can that be called a building?). We had good fans while inside the other days and a cooler full of ice and drinks. We had amazing air conditioning at our hotel. TBL slept well though he did wake up more at night to eat but I think he was tanking up for the hot days when it was harder on both of us to nurse. It was really interesting. TBL did not spit up much while we were there. He is not a huge spitter-upper but does somewhat during a regular day. It was as if his body knew it needed to conserve all of its fluids and not to waste them. The only day he did spit up was our day off when he was in the air conditioning most of the day. Amazing bodies we have with the instinct to adapt and survive regardless of age. He did get quite hot while out in the colonias but with our water spraying fan, cold water bottles as toys and wet cold sponge bathes he survived.

Here is a photo montage of our trip.

Our friends, Kyle and Ellen, let us borrow their infant car seat and it was waiting for us in the van at the airport. TBL doesn't like any car seat and this was probably the only time he was smiling in it. My plan for the trip was to carry/wear TBL but thought it may be too hot for that. When we got out of the airport and walked to the van, Dr Cara (TBL's pediatrician who was with us) said, 'oh no it is too hot to carry or wear him. we'll have to think of something else'

TBL is all smiles in our hotel room because it was cool

the view from our balcony not that we ever saw it - we kept the curtains closed so TBL could sleep. we decided to use the pack-n-play we bought and store down there while out at clinics and luckily our hotel had a very nice crib that we used.

Daddy walked TBL around alot in the stroller to put him to sleep. This was at Dona Chonita, our first day of clinics with the really nice breeze. We saw about 75 people this day.

Jennifer, our medical student, did a great nutritional class on eating healthy and diabetes.

TBL's home at the clinics-- the pack-n-play with a fan. We didn't have the fan inside because I was worried about him cutting off finger or toes. I worry too much! :-)

Lots of little kids leaned in and talked with TBL. They were all very delightful. They put on hand sanitizer before reaching in and touching toes or hands. They did a good job not frightening him or touching his face.

TBL is just so adorable.

Daddy working at triage

Dr Cara seeing a patient

At Villa Union, TBL got to play with Daddy in front of the fan. He loved the fan! He looks like a super hero with his big facing backwards.

All smiles with Daddy

Super cute family shot

TBL with his favorite new toy, cold water bottle. He would hug it and lick it.

On our day off we went to the beach for about 5 minutes- it was the hottest day we had down there.

TBL got his toes dipped in the Pacific

I did go down the water slide at the hotel like 10 times. I really love water slides and have decided Bill and I are going to go sans TBL to an indoor water park this winter for a long weekend. Yippeedddoooo!

Having some tummy time at the hotel

He looks hilarious in my sunglasses. Too bad it was SO hot out that the camera got steamy.

Another day in the pack-n-play sweating with my cold water bottle friend.

Our team with our translators and missionary friends minus Bill

Hanging out with Daddy at Loma Bonita on our last day

I just love my little bug. All in all it was a great trip. Having TBL did take either Bill or I totally out of commission in terms of working and seeing patients. I didn't expect that. No one melted but I may be getting too old for another September trip.

TBL's latest and greatest

Here are some current shots of TBL. There hasn't been much new since Grandma left. He did have a bit of formula last week mixed with breast milk that he chugged down. He is doing great at Ms Lisa's when we are at work and is still sleeping at night like a champ. We head to Mexico on Sunday so that will be a big test of how flexible TBL is in terms of having his routine changed. Two things are certain. This kid is slobbers all the time and is so adorable I can barely take my eyes off of him.

He is getting even more interactive with toys. Thanks Aunt Tammy, girl scout troop leader, for the exersaucer loan. He really loves it.

The purple monkey has a mirror in it and TBL is enthralled with his own face. (but then again who isn't?)

Literally I want to just chomp on his cheeks every minute I am with him.