THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER: VOLUME 143 OCTOBER 2001
LOCHLAN EMRYS LOWE
BORN
AUGUST 27TH 2021
WEIGHT 7LBS 9OZ
Dear Readers,
The day after Ming Lee flew to the heavens I drove back to Kansas City knowing that Sarah and Sean were going to be welcoming their third child. in less than three years, that day. With her two previous pregnancies Sarah had birthed both babies exactly one month and two days earlier than her official due date so we felt sure that the pattern would continue but alas it was not to be. This baby had to be induced to leave the womb where he was safely cocooned from his siblings! I am sure if he thought about about coming out the screams of Emmy Lou and Liam over some outrage the other had committed against them would have been enough to convince him that the world was a dangerous place! This pregnancy was also different as Sarah developed mild gestational diabetes in her third trimester and as she approached her due date the doctor’s decided to induce her. I talked to her on the 26th of August whilst I was still at Ming and Lori’s and learned that she was going to be admitted to the hospital the following morning. We had previously planned for me to take care of Emmy Lou and Liam when baby number three decided to arrive but obviously I wasn’t going to be there so their nanny volunteered to stay with them until I could take over.
My drive home from Indy was exhausting because I was sleep deprived, emotionally drained and worried about birth complications. I also had to deal with one slow down and a complete stoppage on the interstate due to two major accidents - besides the detour into down town Indianapolis and miles of road construction delays. Unfortunately no-one thought to call me with the news of Lochlan’s birth while I was driving – I never check my texts while driving and so didn’t know that all had gone well until I arrived back home that evening! Mother had imagined all kind of possible obstetric complications that could be keeping my hands free phone from ringing! I can guarantee that my heart is in fine fettle after this ordeal!
Fortunately Sarah had the foresight to ask that they break her waters before hooking her up to a pictocin drip and once her water broke she spontaneously went into labor, no drugs needed, – just three hours later Lochlan Emrys came into this world.
The next day, Saturday August 28th - after sleeping for ten hours -I headed up to Sean and Sarah’s to take over from their nanny Elaine until they came home with the new baby – which was about suppertime! Emmy Lou was much more excited to meet Lochlan than Liam! She actually wanted to hold him immediately and thought him very cute. She also calls him Emrys instead of Lochlan most of the time but it is a huge improvement over calling her baby brother “That” as she did with Liam for the longest time! Liam seems to be quite unfazed by the arrival of his baby brother and does not burst into tears if I hold the baby in his presence like he did with baby Alex.
I opted to drive out with the Logues as Sean and Kay were both planning on attending too but were trying to minimize their time away from their newborns. Thus they planned to drive to Indy the day of Ming Lee’s Celebration of Life Service but it was unlikely that they would make the drive in time to be at the Funeral Home at the start of the proceedings. I felt that I needed to be there ahead of time. The Logues were planning on leaving after Coryn’s workday on Thursday, driving for a few hours before finding a hotel for the night in hopes of only having a few hours drive the following morning..
Owen had been staying with Grandma that week as he was banned from school for two weeks after a child at his lunch table tested positive for Covid 19- even though Owen tested negative! So Coryn picked Owen and me up from my home and drove us to her home to meet up with Jeremy and Ava Claire. This freed up my car for Sean to drive with Kay the next day, leaving two cars at Seans house for Sarah and her parents who flew in from Maine on very short notice to help out with the three little ones. Kay’s baby stayed with Richard but as a nursing mother she had to pump and freeze her milk to keep up her supply for the two days she was gone.
Coryn had activities for the kids – she had downloaded three movies onto their Ipads and a surprise box which contained at least thirty new fidget toys – good for about one hour of entertainment!
Trouble started before we had even backed out of the garage – Jeremy was driving, Coryn occupied the front passenger seat, Ava Claire and I sat in the second row seats and Owen had a single seat to himself in the third row surrounded by all our luggage. He was not happy about his placement at all and it was only with the assurance that he could change seats with his sister after we stopped for dinner that he was persuaded to get himself buckled up in his assigned seat. Coryn brightly suggested that the kids get started on their make up school work as they would be missing Friday’s classes – of course it took the promise of Ipad time in thirty minutes to motivate Owen! And then he must have asked every minute if the thirty minutes were up!
We stopped at a fast food place to pick up dinner and use the restrooms. We then piled back into the car and this time Owen had no interest in giving up his spot in the back seat despite his sister’s offer to do so! I just rolled my eyes.
As we all know Mother does not drink on long car drives, preferring to suck on hard candy to limit toilet breaks to only one every four hours or so but the Logues much to my dismay each carried a humongous cup of liquid with them into the car along with supper. I questioned the wisdom of such large drinks, especially for the kids but Coryn just shrugged and said potty stops every hour or so with the kids was the norm. I wondered if we would even make it halfway to Indy that night! We hardly seemed to have gone twenty miles before Ava Clare announced she needed a potty break!
We stopped in Effingham, Illinois for the night, with Ava Clare and I sharing a room while lucky Coryn and Jeremy shared with Owen!
Fortunately despite my misgivings we had driven far enough that night to leave us with less than a three hour drive in the morning to meet up with the rest of the family who were gathering at Lori’s for lunch. Marc and Bryn had flown a redeye from Los Angeles and Ming Jon had met up with the Remsburgs and their rental car at the Indianapolis airport. Josh of course was already there as he had stayed on in Indianapolis to help Lori and the kids through the last few difficult weeks.
Unfortunately our drive that morning had been extremely torturous due to Owen who wanted his Ipad as soon as we got into the car and his parents wanted him to do school work, read or do an activity book. Owen refused and began singing louder and louder that “Nobody loves me, nobody cares” as we sped along I70. For a short while we tried to ignore his behaviour – which never works in my opinion – so to garner more attention he undid his seat belt and tried leaving his seat. This caused quite a commotion and his mother told him to write lines as a punishment so I handed over paper and pen and for awhile we enjoyed peace and quiet until I turned around and saw that Owen was using himself as a work of art – drawing all over himself with my ball point pen! I muttered to myself that none of my kids would have done such a thing – well with the exception perhaps of Ming Lee! I wondered how we were going to remove all this ink from him in time for the service that afternoon! Fortunately Lori took on the challenge and cleaned him up from head to toe with rubbing alcohol. Thankfully for the remainder of the trip Owen was very well behaved, especially during the services for his Uncle Ming . However I determined that I was definitely not enduring the eight hour drive home in a car with Owen!
The family all stayed at the same hotel, the Drury Inn Suites. I shared with Leslee-Ann and Craig who had left Ray and Callie with a babysitter, The Logues had another suite as did Kay and Ming-Jon. Marc, Bryn and Sean shared another with Josh remaining at Lori’s house.
We had to deal with a near catastrophe when towards the end of Ming’s visitation Marc discovered that the entire sole of one of his shoes had left the upper part! Mother thought a new pair of shoes was needed but as usual it was pointed out to me by my boys that a cheap and quick fix would be gorilla glue!
The following morning as we were leaving the hotel to pile into our cars to drive to the church for the funeral services I noticed Ming Jon at the reception desk attempting to wrap packing tape around his suitcase. His siblings explained that his zipper had broken. Sean came to the rescue on this one offering one of his bags to Ming Jon for his flight home.
On Saturday after the very moving funeral and luncheon we all headed home. Josh was returning to Kansas City this time too so I elected to drive back with him, Sean and Kay in my own car. Both vehicles were well supplied with snacks for our eight hour drive home – Lori had insisted that I take a large cheese platter with me - so large that it lasted me for nearly a week!
After one of our bathroom stops with Kay busy setting up her breast pump in the back seat as we sped along she started frantically foraging through the numerous bags that surrounded us in the back seat. I asked what she needed – her cell phone. I immediately asked if she might have left it in the restroom but she didn’t think so although it was a possibility! I helped look through bags too but no phone was found so we left the interstate at the next ramp and all four of us searched. This time I decided to empty out the bags instead of just looking through them and thankfully found the phone in the bottom of the snack bag! After circling around we were back on the Interstate and you had better believe that I was keeping n eye on Kay’s phone the rest of the way! Thankfully we were back in Kansas City about eight thirty that night exhausted but grateful that we had all been together as a family for one of the most difficult days in all our lives.
I have been very busy this week so was unable to complete any work on this newsletter since the previous weekend. Ava Claire and Owen had this entire past week of school off in their district but it was not so in Coryn’s or Kay’s schools. Coryn and the kids spent Monday night at my house so she could leave early the next morning for a meeting. Alex was dropped off on Tuesday morning and greatly enjoyed by his cousins, especially since I introduced him to his first solids at lunchtime! He was very enthused with his first taste of applesauce – unsweetened of course! Wednesday I drove over to Coryns in Lee Summit for the day. On Thursday Richard dropped Alex off, followed by Jeremy with his two. Alex was unfortunately battling a runny nose and teething but we made it through! Owen went home with Coryn on Thursday evening but Ava Claire had her second sleepover of the week with Grandma. We played one of her favorite games that night – hotel where she is the receptionist and I am the guest and the more demanding I am the better she likes it as she gives me a tour of all my bedrooms and their amenities!
The next day Sarah came over with her parents, Liam and Lochlan. Ava Claire and Owen were thrilled! Emmy Lou has just started school this week so we didn’t see her until about three thirty when Sean picked her up and bought her over to Grandma’s daycare! Sarah and Lochlan went home for a bit while the rest of us had lunch together and Sarah’s parents, Cindy and Joe helped the kids with my cookie cutters and a big batch of playdough I made in my mixer with a dough hook. Liam actually didn’t eat any this time! I let the kids add food coloring and of course had a mess on every surface and needed to wash the entire kitchen floor that night !
Joe was very patient with Owen and played video games with him downstairs while we tried to get Liam to nap without success! Emmy Lou was very happy to see her cousins when she arrived and I must say that not having her on Fridays is going to be very hard on this grandma! But I will have Liam and Lochlan – once Sarah goes back to work next month and I babysit Alex on Tuesday’s and Thursdays! Emmy Lou may start having regular sleepover’s at Grandma’s!
Thanksgiving will be very special this year as we will have Lori, Blake and Claudia joining our Kansas City family – minus Josh who is currently in Orlando with the Remsburgs with plans to travel elsewhere soon I believe.
I think of Ming Lee many times throughout the day still, and only have to look to the sky to feel his presence still in my life. His birthday, November 21st looms and for those of you who follow this newsletter on my blog I have included some pictures from past celebrations. We will all be singing Happy Birthday to you that day Ming!
Love always Mother.
Remember when I used to make the birthday cakes for you children?
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| Celebrating at Happy Joe's Pizza in Fort Madison - Ming Lee has two of his best friends with him, Steve Saunders and Bryan Allison |
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| Ming-Lee's favorite was orange cake, orange frosting with orange slices and orange sherbet! |
