THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER : VOLUME 149 JANUARY 2023
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL!
Dear Readers,
We welcomed our newest family member:
CILLIAN RYAN LOWE
BORN NOVEMBER 28TH 2022
WEIGHT 7 LBS 10 OZS
Congratulations to Sarah and Sean on the birth of their third son and fourth child in under four years. His name is pronounced with a hard K instead of a soft C and his middle name is in honor of his Uncle Joshua Ryan! I think he most resembles his oldest brother Liam although he is much fairer in complexion and has strawberry blonde hair! Lochlan is far more interested and loving towards this baby then Emmy Lou or Liam!
On December 12th Kay underwent a double mastectomy and is now cancer free! She will undergo reconstructive surgery in early April, and be prescribed Tamoxifen for five years. Over her summer break she will undergo surgery to remove her fallopian tubes. Kay and Richard have been absolutely amazing throughout this whole experience and been blessed with a lot of support from family and friends!.They were showered with everything from meal delivery services to every possible aid for mastectomy patients. Coryn and Jermy secured a power reclining chair for her from a local breast cancer support charity to sleep in for the first few weeks after surgery. Unfortunately the first chair the Logues delivered did not work so after hauling it up the Flaig’s very steep and narrow staircase they had to haul it back, pick up another chair and get it upstairs again! But it was definitely worth the hassle: Kay found it so comfortable that she and Richard have since purchased one so that she will have it on hand for her upcoming surgeries,
Thanksgiving was hosted by Coryn and Jeremy and they roasted their first turkey together for our wonderful feast! Coryn’ s table decor was beautiful and she used her best china so we had to hand wash and try it after our meal and fortunately Ming Jon was with us and turned out to be a dab hand at drying dishes! He flew out for the week to spend some time with Kay especially before her surgery and with all the airline flight disruptions to come over Christmas he definitely picked the right holiday to visit!
The first weekend in December I turned my home into a set fit for a Hallmark Christmas Movie - not that I watch those sappy romance films ! I was expecting the Remsburgs, the Indy Lowes and Bryn to be here for the holidays so I was motivated to create a winter wonderland both outside and inside my home. Richard kindly hauled my four sections of Christmas tree up from the basement and helped me set it up. It took me three days to cover it in lights and decorations and I was especially proud of the new rustic country bow I made for the top - very Joanna Gaines inspired! Liam, Lochlan and Alex’s faces lit up with delight when they came through my front door and saw thousands of white lights , shiny ornaments hanging from the tree, numerous wreaths, the mantlepiece and stairs, Christmas themed toys, books and even Christmas pillows and throws on the sofas and chairs! Ava and Owen, being older, remember most of my decorations from previous years and were a tad less enthused but greatly enjoyed teasing me about my ‘Elf on the Shelf’ which they assured me was definitely a fake as they threatened to bake him in the oven or flush him down the toilet. Such charming children.
Emmy Lou took one look at my Christmas tree and informed me that a witch was sitting on top of it. I asked if she didn’t like my beautiful bow with trailing ribbons down the tree but she answered that the witch was sitting on it so she couldn't see it! Of course I gave an Oscar worthy performance enacting my fury at a witch daring to be in my house past Halloween but she appeared every time Emmy Lou visited in December! Of course her parents tree at her home has a Yeti on top of it and a pair of elf legs sticking out of the branches that move if you walk by them! I am sure that this fuels her appetite for more ghoulish decorations!
It was most fortunate that I had finished my Christmas decorating by the first week in December as from then on Sarah and Sean’s children were sick for weeks battling the flu - with Sean and Sarah also needing a visit to emergency care for prescription medications ! Of course their biggest concern was keeping newborn Cillian from becoming sick but he remained healthy - probably due to the antibodies he was born with and the protection afforded by being breastfed.
The most frightening health scare came on Saturday, December 17th when I was checking out at The Hen House and got a tearful phone call from Sarah to let me know that Emmy Lou had suffered a seizure, was non responsive and was enroute to the hospital in an ambulance with Sean. Sarah was going to drop the three boys off with me and join Sean at the hospital - so conveniently located a couple of blocks away from me. I went into full Grandma panic mode as tears sprung to my eyes as I dashed through the parking lot, fortuitously remembering to throw my groceries into my car as I burned rubber peeling out of the parking lot feeling sick to my stomach at the thought of anything happening to my beloved Emmy Lou. When Sarah pulled into my driveway I dashed out to her van to help bring the babies in so she could get to the hospital as quickly as possible. IIf Cillian needed to nurse I would text her immediately so she could return to feed him.
Fortunately Sean soon texted that Emy Lou was responsive and that the doctors said this often happens in small children when they experience a dramatic rise in temperature in a short period of time. After a few hours of being in the Emergency Room she tested positive for the flu and was discharged. Sean and Sarah took her home and then Sarah returned to my house and elected to spend the night with the boys as Sean wanted to fumigate their house and keep a close watch on Emmy Lou: despite the doctor’s assurances that she would be fine Sean was so worried that she would suffer another seizure that he set an alarm for every hour throughout the night to check on her - no doubt this lack of sleep contributed to his sinus infection shortly after this ordeal.
Emmy Lou with Sean at the Emergency Room!
The following day, December the 18th, was Emmy Lou’s fourth birthday and she spent most of it in bed instead of at my house celebrating with all our Kansas City family! By this time Owen and Alex were sick too so there would not have been many guests! I took her presents over to her and set up the My LIttle Pony Castle and six ponies to play with on her bed as we watched the show together on television!
Since Alex was also sick at this time Richard's parents were keeping him with them as Kay could not lift anything over five pounds for several weeks post surgery and Richard had his hands full taking care of Kay! Alex is a real heavy weight and very clingy when he is sick.
Liam had his first sleepover at Grandma’s as Sean and Sarah were coping with two sick toddlers, a newborn, a Nanny who was on vacation for much of the time and sleep deprivation as not only their newborn but sick children were waking up needing care in the night!
Fortunately Liam thoroughly enjoyed his alone time with Grandma and apart from running a fever his first night and suffering a stuffy nose he slept well-only waking me once to find him standing up in bed next to me declaring that he was a big boy now! I agreed that he was and suggested we go back to sleep as it was still dark outside and thankfully he did! We had freezing temperatures and snow overnight so Sean and Sarah asked if Liam could spend another night so of course Grandma kept him! He was so easy with no siblings around to vie for my attention! Fortunately he loves art projects and spent a lot of time painting, coloring and drawing - he can already draw faces with eyes, noses and mouths in the right places and he’s only two!
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| Liam enjoyinghis first sleepover at Grandma's |
Lori, Blake and Claudia drove from Indy on December 26th and fortunately suffered no adverse weather to impact the drive and so made it safely to the Logue’s house where they stayed. They brought a lot of home baked cookies with them which we greatly appreciated as I had not had any time to bake for the holidays and lots of Christmas gifts!
The Remsburgs were due to fly in the following day but unfortunately they were also flying on Southwest and like Bryn they found themselves stuck at home after their flight was canceled too! I think we have all agreed that we should probably try to arrange our family gatherings at off peak travel times for most people! We were all so disappointed to miss this chance to be together but we had seventeen of us here for a few days of family togetherness!
Coryn invited us all over to supper at her pristine house one night and I arrived with booster seats for all the little kids and two bags of pre- packaged oriental salad which Coryn threw in her fridge as she opined that she didn’t feel it would compliment her taco soup! I have to say that Coryn really came through for me another night when she turned up at my house with all the ingredients to make supper for us all ! I think that was the day that Blake and I had collaborated on lunch - spaghetti and meatballs! Of course the children who were all pretty much recovered by this time would only eat macaroni and cheese or chicken noodle soup! As always the Indy Lowes were steller house guests, insisting on helping with the clean up after every meal! Lori, Blake and Claudia also got the chance to spend extra time with Kay and Alex at my house as Richard dropped them off with me when he needed to work! I have to say that when you have six children running around your house it is very noisy and chaotic! Fortunately Lori and Claudia have visited enough to know what to expect - I think Blake was a bit overwhelmed at times! I bet he will wear noise canceling headphones next time!
Ming Lee would have been so happy to see us playing family games once all the small children had gone home to bed. I am sure you have all seen the slow motion video of me celebrating my win after a game of Apples to Apples! Thanks Lori!
By New years Day we were all looking forward to a happier, healthier year ahead and to celebrate Coryn and Jeremy invited me to enjoy New Years Day dinner with them, Ava Claire and Owen. I drove over to their house after watching the Chiefs football game to drive to the Plaza with them for a very early dinner.
I immediately noticed that the children were very subdued and learned that they had both had sleepover’s the previous night! I immediately suggested that we might want to forgo the plan to eat out but their parents were eagerly anticipating a night on the town with Grandma so off we went! Poor Owen was so tired that he fell asleep in the car and I had to hold his head up for him!
Jeremy was anticipating eating at the Cheesecake Factory and as we neared the restaurant he was dismayed to see a line wrapping around the block but nevertheless found the one and only parking space on the top floor of the parking garage. We pushed past the long line to the restaurant and learned that we would have a three to four hour wait to be seated. This was not an option. Coryn and Jeremy were in a state of disbelief that the Plaza could be filled with throngs of starving people at five O’clock in the evening! They both believe that only old people like me eat at this ridiculously early hour and thus catering to my preferences they had skipped lunch to have a five O’clock appetite. I of course was not in the least surprised - asking incredulously why they hadn’t made a reservation since it was a Chiefs home game day and New Years Day too! They retorted that no-one supposedly came down to the Plaza anymore and certainly not at this time of the day. They confidently pushed their way through the crowded sidewalk to PF Changs feeling confident of being seated after spying several empty tables. However it was not to be - they could not seat any more customers for ninety minutes as they had too few staff members working! A very worrying sign of the times when even a Chinese restaurant can't find enough family members to staff it! Jeremy called Brio’s but got no response - too busy to answer the phone he surmised so we walked on and finally found seating at a Mexican Restaurant that I remembered eating in some years before when Ava Claire had given an impromptu floor show as a precocious toddler.
Of course I had made several helpful suggestions as I frequently do -anything to help my children out - suggesting we go straight to dessert at an almost empty Cinnabon or go home and order in Pizza but I have to say the Logues were determined to eat dinner on the Plaza that night!
Once we were seated, our orders taken and our drinks delivered we started to relax until Jeremy accidentally knocked over his water glass and flooded the table, his pants and chair! We mopped the mess up as well as we could with our napkins and finally found a busboy to help with the clean up. Unfortunately he showed up with a pail of filthy water and an old fashioned string mop and added more water to the floor! With this disaster behind us we enjoyed dinner and rose from the table only for me to realize that my purse was missing. I immediately went into full panic mode convinced that someone had stolen my brand new Kate Spade purse - a gift from Kay and Richard as I would never spend that sort of money on myself ! Jeremy, noticing my agitation asked what was wrong: he calmly explained that he had moved my purse to a drier spot after the water spill. What a relief!
Last weekend Kay came down with Covid and so had to delay her return to work. Unfortunately she had a more severe case this time than previously but amazingly Rchard and Alex have remained disease free!We were all so sorry that she had to deal with this whilst still recovering from her surgery and gearing up for another one.
Despite the rocky start to the NewYear I hope for smooth sailing from here on: This old battleship is ready for calm waters ahead, with nothing to rock my boat -unless it’s a baby in my arms or a toddler trying to clamber aboard! Your always anchored in family love Mother.
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| Ava Claire and Emy Lou doing their nails! |
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| Thanksgiving at Coryn's |
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| Emy Lou opening Xmas presents at Grandma's |
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| Sarah with baby Killian |
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| Lochlan is into it! |
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| Grandma with Liam, Emmy Lou , Lochlan and Cillian! |
