THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER VOLUME #124 JANUARY 2019

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL MY READERS

Apologies for taking so long, yet again, to post a newsletter but I seem to be frantically busy all the time lately. In November we had a large family gathering for Sean and Sarah's baby shower, followed by Thanksgiving days later. In December I was busy Christmas decorating, and shopping when an early Christmas present unexpectedly arrived!

EMELIA LOUISE aka EMMY LOU

DECEMBER 18TH 2018 6LBS 1OZ 18” LONG

On a routine doctor's visit in early December, Sarah had high blood pressure and was hospitalized overnight with suspected pre-eclapsia. The next day she was sent home with strict instructions to remain at home for the remainder of her pregnancy, about six weeks. She was only to venture out for doctor's appointments. Fortunately her company was very understanding and let her work from home. I thought it odd that her doctors had taken her off her blood pressure medication midway through her pregnancy as they felt she no longer needed it – despite the fact that she had been on medication for some time prior to her pregnancy as she had such high blood pressure that it was causing daily headaches!

In the coming weeks her doctor made the decision to induce her after Christmas, despite the fact that she was not retaining fluid, gaining significant weight or having episodes of alarmingly high blood pressure on home rest. Sarah was given a steroid shot to help her baby's lung development for the planned early delivery. Not looking forward to having an induced labor , Sarah and Sean were delighted when she spontaneously went into labor a month early and after a short labor for a first birth, they became parents to a perfect baby girl named Emelia Louise .She was declared a preemie as she was less than thirty seven weeks at birth - (despite being well over five pounds) and sent to the NICU.

Thus began the most stressful week of Sarah and Sean's lives. After a couple of nights in the hospital they were no longer covered by insurance but the hospital very kindly made a room available to them in a section of the hospital that was being remodeled. They spent every moment they could with their baby and every day hoped she would be released but alas their hopes were dashed day after day. She developed jaundice - like most newborns- and had to be kept under special lights. One of the requirements to break out of the NICU was that the baby had to be to be seated in a car- seat for ninety minutes with no issues. Unfortunately the first and second time she had dips in her vitals that caused her to fail. A kind nurse said that sometimes trying another style of car-seat worked so Josh and I hauled another one to the hospital and handed it over to an exhausted Sean in the hospital lobby. Visitors were not allowed in the NICU so I couldn't see the baby.

The next day she passed the car seat test and we were all elated! The baby could come home the next day! But unfortunately that night she set off alarms as she had a spell of apnea and low blood pressure. The exhausted parents were told the next day not to expect to be able to take their baby home for Christmas as she would have to stay for a few more days to see if she had anymore episodes. Fortunately a social worker worked with them and the medical staff and arranged to borrow a portable baby monitor from Children's Mercy Hospital that allowed them all to come home on Christmas Eve. I was so happy I cried!

Christmas day I offered to bring them lunch as I had some lobster cakes and egg rolls leftover from my Christmas Eve feast that I had hosted the night before for Josh and the Logues. I loaded my car up the night before with all the gifts from myself and other family members and a milk crate of food ! As soon as I walked in their door Sean demanded I sanitize every square inch of visible skin so that I would be deemed germ free enough to hold his daughter! I found this interesting as I spent several hours a couple of days earlier cleaning their house as they had not done so before rushing off to the hospital and Sean asked me to clean before they brought Emmy Lou home. I even took my steam clean swiffer and vacuum to ensure a thorough job. I can assure you that I found enough germs lurking in their house to fell an elephant!

Holding my newest granddaughter on Christmas morning was truly the best gift ever! I fell in love with her at once of course! She definitely has the Asian genes, even sporting a Mongolian birthmark on her beautiful butt. She has the Lowe baby signature receding hairline too! As soon as I heard that Sarah was in labor I rushed to the stores fearing that the shelves would be bare of newborn Christmas outfits if I waited a day or so. I raced from store to store in search of a cute newborn outfit which proved hard to find but Mother was determined to do so, and have it washed and delivered as fast as Sarah delivered the wearer!

She is still on the portable monitor and will be until at least the 24^th of this month. Hopefully she will then be able to be unhooked ! Fortunately she seems totally unaware of it and the wires strapped to her chest! She is nursing well and has gained weight and a couple of inches in length! Hopefully as time progresses her parents will recover from the stress - Sean has a stomach ulcer as a result! Of course I am happy to do anything I can to alleviate their stress and am very grateful to have been trusted enough to babysit her a couple of times already!

The new parents have decided to allow very few visitors to their home until Emelia reaches her due date as they are concerned that she might contract an illness and end up back in the NICU. Ava Claire and Owen are very keen to meet their new cousin but I am sure this story about Ming-Lee's enthusiasm to see his new baby brother Marc back in 1977 has added to their stress! As promised in my last letter I will be incorporating a memory o f Ming's life that emphasizes his strength of will.

Many years ago when Marc was born, siblings were not allowed to visit their mother's in the hospital leave alone see their new brother or sister so when I was back home I decided that I did not want to be holding the baby when they came through the door from school because I did not want them to think that they were any less important or loved since Marc's arrival. So I left the baby upstairs and as soon as they came home they frantically asked where the baby was, not interested in me at all and before you could wink Ming-Lee tore up the stairs and shortly appeared down the stairs dangling his baby brother by his arm pits. How seven year old Ming-Lee lifted him up and managed to carry him down the stairs or how I managed to stay calm I shall never know! They both had wanted a baby sister so their excitement over the birth of a brother was an unexpected surprise and they were both not in the least jealous of him! He became their favorite playmate immediately!

Just about a month before Emelia was born Leslee-Ann and Craig came to throw a baby shower for their brother and Sarah, so the day before we were running around picking up balloons, flowers and food from a couple of Kansas City's best Barbecue restaurants places and desserts from a local bakery. Leslee-Ann was so well organized, she had bought all the paraphernalia for her planned games – one of which cost me five of my diapers as she had this crappy game where you had to guess what kind of mushed up chocolate candy bar was in each diaper! We never played games like that in my day! Heck they were usually strictly all female but now it's a family affair!

Sarah's parents and her sister were in town for the baby shower and the Thanksgiving holiday and our family was well represented by our hosts, the Remsburgs, the Logue family, and Kay and Richard. Then there were quite a few friends too, most of whom I already knew.

Craig was instructed to entertain Ray at the shower by Leslee-Ann as she said she needed to be free to organize things. Craig announced that he was planning on taking pictures. I was sure that Ray would be happy to play with Ava and Owen and the other kids at the shower but that was not so. He poured cold water over any idea that he might be able to function without clinging to Craig and whimpering! Poor Craig became so exasperated that he was on the brink of going back to my place with him but I persuaded him to tough it out and towards the end of the event he warmed up to eating and playing!

On this visit he and Owen actually got along pretty well and he always enjoys Ava Claire who loves having someone else to boss around!

On the night before the baby shower we went over to Coryn and Jeremy's new house which the Remsburgs had not yet seen and for supper we headed to Paradise Park, in Lees Summit, a children's indoor play center with restaurant. Ray loved this activity! He and Ava Claire spent ages playing in the grocery store! Ray was very into using the old fashioned play phone! Unfortunately Owen had fallen asleep on the car ride over so I volunteered to watch him while the others chased the kids from one activity to another. Just as we had about finished eating he woke up and was able to enjoy playing in the fire truck for awhile and putting makeup on with his sister.

Ray and Owen got to spend most of Monday together as that is the day he spends with me . We took the boys to lunch at McDonalds , one with an indoor play area but Ray was not into that activity either! The boys had a good time with their Happy Meals, wearing their french fry containers as hats! .Now we come to one of those strange arrangements that my children make among themselves that makes no logical sense to their mother.

The Remsburgs were returning to Orlando on the evening of Monday, November 19^th to spend Thanksgiving with Craig's parents who recently moved to a retirement community near them. They didn't want Judy and Roger to spend their first Thanksgiving in Florida alone. Marc and Bryn were flying in that night from LA but not due to arrive until about one the next morning. Obviously no one was prepared to pick them up at that hour so I just assumed that they would take an Uber to my house but once again I had underestimated the complications my children will endure to save a dollar. I had offered to drop the Remsbergs off at the airport even though Owen would have had to ride along too but they had decided that they would borrow my Ford Focus back from Sarah and Sean, drive themselves to the airport, park in the covered garage and leave the keys in a magnetic box under the car. Then when the boys arrived they would go to the garage and miraculously find the car and hidden keys and drive themselves to my house in the wee hours of the morning. I had visions of Marc and Bryn spending fruitless hours walking up and down the endless rows of cars but I guess they must have given them GPS co-ordinates or something as this was not an issue! And they sent them a picture of the location of the hidden keys. I was also worried that some-one might steal my old car but my kids always roll their exasperated eyes at a comment like this and assure me that they could probably leave the car unlocked with the keys in the ignition, the engine running with a full tank of gas and still no one would want my car!

On Thanksgiving eve Coryn invited Sarah and her family along with ours to diner at her house and she had an Italian themed meal: appetizers, salad, and two pasta entrees plus an assortment of desserts! Five years ago I would have never believed it possible that she could put such a sumptuous feast together all by herself after years of complaining that she didn't even like to boil water!

I was hosting Thanksgiving for everyone at my house and stuck to my traditional roast turkey and baked ham. Marc said he wanted to try a new technique with my turkey, using course salt to brine it in and then soaking the whole thing in Cranberry juice for a day before cooking. I was very dubious about this idea, as I am about any idea that Marc has, but Bryn seemed convinced that we should try it so I finally agreed although my other children questioned my sanity and said I should do it my usual way. Once I had removed all the nasty innards and rinsed and patted dry my turkey( Marc is too chicken for this step) Marc buried it in salt and stuffed it back into the fridge. I tried not to think what this high sodium bird was going to do for my already elevated blood pressure. The next morning he announced that it was time to add the cranberry juice. Unfortunately all the liquid needed to drown the bird could not be contained in my extra deep roasting pan so we elected to put the turkey in a roasting bag with all the liquid – Marc poured a can of cherry coke into the mix seeming to think it was going to be the guarantee of success. I was terrified that all the weight inside the bag between the liquid and the turkey was going to explode all over my fridge at some point but fortunately the bag held. The morning of Thanksgiving we drained the salty juice and coke from out turkey and I looked at one very wrinkled, and frighteningly pink turkey. It bore no resemblance to the beautiful bird I had selected at the Hen House. I asked if it was going to be pink all the way through when cooked , thinking that Sarah's family would believe I was serving them raw meat! Marc did not know. I thanked heavens that I had bought an extra large ham this year! Plus Kay was arriving with Ming Jon (who had just flown in that morning) and she was preparing some appetizers whilst Sean and Sarah and her family were working on desserts and sides in their kitchen. Who would miss the turkey if it was the disaster I expected!

There were so many of us that I had to set up two tables and we didn't even have the Logues with us as they were spending the holiday with Jeremy's family! Unfortunately Ming-Lee decided that he wasn't up to the trip out here so he, Lori and the kids spent the holiday with Lori's family who live closer to them.

Once the turkey was out of the oven, and rested, no longer wrinkled and pink but sporting a gorgeous brown glaze, I grabbed a carving knife and was expecting to see pink meat but it was beautifully white and everyone declared it the best turkey they had ever eaten! I have to admit that having seen what a can of coke can do to a toilet on those television commercials I was very nervous about the effect on my bird but it truly was very moist and tasty!

On Friday I drove Marc and Bryn back to the airport late in the afternoon leaving Ava and Owen with Ming-Jon, Richard and Kay. Coryn had been invited to some event so the kids were with me. Owen fell asleep just before I left so I was thankful that they would only have to entertain Ava Claire. Unfortunately I had to make the round trip in rush hour traffic so I was gone for some time and Owen woke up much earlier than he usually does from a nap and he was not happy that neither his Mommy nor Grandma were there and so despite their best efforts they had to cope with a fussy Owen.

Josh returned from Bolivia in early December, and spent a week in Orlando with the Remsburgs, enjoying his time with them and especially Ray of course! I picked him up at the airport on December 12^th with a mental list of things for him to do around my house pulsating through my brain! Of course almost as soon as he was home he was off to Sean and Sarah's to work on his car which he succeeded in bringing back to life after a few other family members had declared it fit only for the junk yard. Once again it is parked in my driveway! Of course he soon set to work helping Sean build and design a tree for all the woodland themed creatures that I have sewn so far for Emmy Lou's nursery. There is talk of adding a bedroom and bathroom in their basement. I mentioned my long list of issues over here but was informed that patching dry wall cracks was pointless until it was time to sell the house and nothing else was deemed urgent. Fortunately Josh did fix a broken window blind and install a new ceramic soap dish in the upstairs bathroom after Coryn broke the old built in one using it to prop her leg on while shaving this summer!

Christmas was a smaller event this year for sure. Josh and I drove over to Coryn's for the afternoon so we could exchange gifts with them and have dinner together. It seemed that we were all on the same meal planning page this year as I presented shrimp and lobster cakes for Christmas Eve dinner , while for Christmas dinner, Jeremy grilled steaks and Coryn prepared one of my favorite foods, crab legs.

So you see the holidays were very busy for me this year and two other events were memorable for me too. Ava Claire invited me to a dinner being held at her school for Grandparents and I was expecting it to be a Fort Madison sized building - her school is bigger than the high school! The turnout was enormous. I had to drive across a very muddy field to park ( just like Rodeo parking) and was thinking how fortuitous it was that I was not driving my Ford Focus as I am sure it would have been stuck in the mud. Once parked we had to walk some distance to get into the school – Ava Claire berating me the whole time for not leaving earlier to get a better parking spot. How was I suppose to know that half the population of Lee's Summit was going to show up? She escorted me to her classroom and introduced me to her teacher and then being Ava Claire (a drama queen) she announced that she was sad because it was Grandparents day and she only had her Grandma with her as her Grandpa had gone to heaven when she was a baby. The teacher and I were on the verge of reaching for tissues! I quickly suggested she show me her table and displayed work before she squeezed out a few Oscar winning tears.

Grandma and Ava Claire enjoying a visit to her school with dinner too!

The school was serving a catered dinner from the Olive Garden and I had to dig deep for the fortitude needed to stand in a line that snaked through the building for at least a mile in my estimation! I was tempted to suggest we stop by McDonald's instead but my granddaughter was thoroughly enjoying calling out “Hi” to everybody that she recognized and explaining what was behind every closed door! After eating I had to tour the cafeteria, music room and school office.

Eventually we headed back out side to tromp through the mud in search of my car, hard to find in the dark as the improvised parking lot was a sea of dark SUV's, mini vans and crossovers that looked just like mine! Once safely in my mud spattered car I crawled out of the mud to the road and heard the most appalling noise. I was convinced that the wheels were falling off at first and then I realized that it was mud and gravel falling off my big, beautiful tires. This lasted until we reached Coryn's house! Mother had never experienced this before in all her decades of driving!

Coryn, Jeremy and I attended Owen's Christmas pre-school program not expecting that he would participate much as he told us that the only song they were singing was Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and he would put his fingers on top of his head to resemble antlers. He was sitting front and center and to our amazement he sat in his chair and sung song after song with actions! We had no idea he knew so many songs and amazingly Rudolph wasn't even one of them! He had fooled us much to his delight! Coryn and Jeremy had to leave for work after the program so I stayed with for juice and cookies afterwards where his teacher found us and gave Owen a congratulatory hug on his performance and said that after a rough start he was now about the best behaved kid in class! I looked appalled and offered her my deepest sympathies trying to comprehend dealing with kids more difficult than Owen! She also said it was impossible to be mad with him when that adorable dimpled face smiled at you!

Now I come to another momentous event in our family history:

CONGRATULATIONS TO KAY AND RICHARD ON THEIR

ENGAGEMENT!

They became engaged over the Christmas holidays in Washington DC and have already set their wedding date for September 21^st of this year in Kansas City! Another great reason for a big family gathering! As you can imagine I am thrilled to be involved in the wedding preparations and look forward to meeting Richard's family, seeing the wedding venue to plan decorations, and bridal gown shopping! I am so blessed to be so actively involved in my children's and grandchildren's lives!

Love Mother