Rams Fans Are Drunks
For kicks I decided to go to the Arizona Cardinal's game last weekend. They played the St. Louis Rams and actually gave them a run for their money. In classic form, it appeared that there were more Lambs fans there than the home team. I sat next to Kid Rock, who, as you can tell is a Ram's fan. He came prepared for a typical autumn outdoor football game. I reminded him that we were in Phoenix. By the way, he really does drink a lot, just about as much as all of the other trailer park St. Louis Sweethearts.

HE - MAN - GEE - O - MA
Hemangioma according to drgreene.com are:
"tufts of extra blood vessels that commonly occur in children.... A capillary hemangioma is a bright red birthmark that can sometimes be the most noticeable feature of a little baby. Hemangiomas often don't appear until a baby is a month old, and can continue to grow throughout infancy. Some are cute; some are large and unsightly. Thankfully, most will disappear on their own within about 2 years.... Whether hemangiomas are treated or not, babies deserve to have parents and others look at them with wonder and delight."

Here is what hemangiomas are to me:
A slight discoloring at birth on Ellie's left arm, that after the first few weeks had reddened and become more predominant. At birth, no one seemed bothered by the skin, so I didn't let it bother me. At about one month old, it had been worrying Abbie to the point to specifically bring it up to the pediatrician. She referred us to a local dermatologist that is also a pediatrician. I still did not think much of it, until Abbie called me in tears after meeting with the specialist. At this point hemangioma still had not been mentioned specifically. Instead the dermatologist gave us three possibilities; port wine stain, Klippel-Trenauncy Syndrome, or Parkes Weber Syndrome. Two of the three options were scary to the point of panicking. The least detrimental was the port wine stain, which is simply a permanent birthmark. It is the blood red birthmark that Boris Yeltsin has on his forehead. The local specialist told Abbie to "wait and keep an eye on it" which was not what any of us wanted to hear.

Last Monday we went to Phoenix Children's Hospital and met with an expert doctor who gave us this deadly sounding word, hemangioma. Basically, he said that it is nothing at all like the previous horrific possible diagnosis'. Instead, it is a tuft of extra blood vessels, that will go away in time. We have the option of laser surgery, but are not pressed to have to make an immediate decision, and will not until after the holidays.

Ellie is fine otherwise. And now, so are we.

Now, the word reminds me of a "Little Rascals" episode where Spanky and the gang decide to make a new, all boys club called, "The He-Man, Woman Hater's Club".

Family Life
We sit calmly in our living room. The whole family except Ellie is at complete peace. She is just a bit fidgety, maybe it is a burp-bubble. She cries lightly telling me that I need to hold her another way or move more.

Ellie's eyes widen and curiosity showers her pudgy face as Emma begins to sing her newest rendition of "What I Think Should be Sung Loudest". It is a little ditty she has been perfecting for sometime now. It consists of stories, most often misunderstood to the untrained ear. It usually concerns her little sister and her love for her family and friends. It would be a sweet award-winning video if it wasn't always presented at the most inopportune time.

Her need to harmonize seems to be inspired most when Ellie begins to fuss. Of course, this happens a lot more than when Emma was a baby, however Emma refuses to start her program unless Ellie kick's off the first few notes. Then, like a locomotive pulling from the depot, Emma slowly grinds her tune into gear, persistently chugging to a louder and stronger pace until she is running at full tempo. The scenery whizzes by her as she tears through the house while the words dance through her lips.

Ellie's brow frowns. The noise that is intended to be sweet and melodic begins to reflect the sound of scraping metal on asphalt. It is just loud enough to overpower the music on the radio, or the football game on the television. It is just powerful enough to disrupt any verbal communication that might of been occurring. It is becoming "noticed."

Ellie's mouth gapes and she blinks annoyance into her cherub cheeks as this Zappa-esque jam promptly increases in volume. She squeaks her little "warning" squeak. Abbie and I have quickly recognized this as fast approaching trouble. We hear the squeaks. They are ignored by the roaring big sister, who by this time is belting the words at full force, fists clenched, eyes closed, chin raised.

Ellie's eyes tighten shut, her jaw drops open, and I hasten the patting on her back attempting to distract the irritant but with no success.

WWWWAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!

Mariah Carey would be proud of the octaves my one-month-old can deliver.

Then the phone rings, there is a knock on the door and the dog begins to bark at shadows in the kitchen. Yes, hell has officially broken loose, and it is only 8:43 A.M.

At least we got the first one of the day out of the way.

News from Colorado to Share
Written the morning of November 8, 2003:

Ellie Rae Grace Weien is one month old today!(November 8th) WOW! Really doesn't seem like that precious little girl can be that OLD! Ellie is doing well. Emma is adjusting to her new role as Big Sister and will probably enjoy Ellie much more when she can do more things...like dress up like a Princess!!

Jake and Abbie are busy being very caring parents. Fortunately, Abbie doesn't have to return to teaching until the Christmas break is over, so she will be home for a couple more months. I'm sure the next two will fly bye as quickly as this first one has.

The cycle of life is so interesting as I reflect on Ellie's one month birthday and the fact that tomorrow, November 9th, marks the one year anniversary of My Dear Mother, Mildred's death. That doesn't seem possible either, although, this has been one very busy year. Truly a year of many transitions physically, mentally, and emotionally. Approaching the Thanksgiving Day Holiday, which is the gateway to the Christmas Season, reflection seems to be very appropriate for me. Along with the sad times and frustrating times, the times of thanksfulness certainly out number all of the others. This year has given us many blessing as does each day give us many blessings. We have all been touched by all of you with your out pour of love and prayers especially for Zach but for all of us!

My wish for all of you is to start each day with just 5 or 10 things that you are thankful for....great way to start the day...all of us can list many more but sometimes we don't feel like we have that much time in the beginning of our day. Tell each of those family members that you see first thing in the morning how much you love them, hug them, enjoy their presence....for some morning they will not be physically there to hug...and then you can remember all of the wonderful hugs you did share.

The Colorado Weien Crew is getting ready for our move back to the Big City...Colorado Springs to Zach and Kristi's home. Kristi has the nursery painted. Kristi has also been painting Caleb's crib and only has one more piece to complete. Since the days are colder now, the crib painting project has moved from the garage to the livingroom and Zach is really enjoying watching Kristi work her artistic magic. It will really be cute. It is all white with the spool rings painted in primary colors...very bright and cheerful. The nursery is done in primary colors with the walls of yellow and green and a border of jungle frogs. Kristi's Mom, Debbie, went home to Texas with her sewing project of jungle frog fabric for the crib skirt, bumper pads, etc.

We have all been working on projects at the house so things will be in order when we move Zach in and when Caleb arrives. Last week we accomplished all of the upstairs carpets being cleaned, as well as all of the carpeting from the basement being torn out. We will be getting everything back in place now that the carpet is dry. We are also making a few changes in the kitchen, moving the refrigerator and a few shelves, nothing major.

Our targeted move date is Monday, November 17th. We had hoped to stay with the same Hospice group but they are having some challenges with being short of staff and will have to refer us to Pikes Peak Hospice in the Springs. We will really miss all of the wonderful people who have helped us so very much since August 12th. But I am sure that there will be another group of fabulous individuals who will give us tremenduous assistance in caring for Zach through this new agency. We will be getting the final information early next week and will know for sure if our targeted date will work for the transition as well as all of Zach's hospital equipment to be delivered, etc.

Just a reminder for those of you who might have misplaced Zach and Kristi's address and phone number:
6872 Sullivan Avenue
Colorado Springs, CO 80911
home phone 719-392-1181
Ron's cell phone 719-648-9049
Maggie's cell phone 719-649-8848

Our email will should remain the same although there might be a few days that we are not all set back up...so be patient...we will return to this wonderful electronic messaging system.

Hoping this update finds all of you healthy and happy. For those of you who might be wondering, of course, Maggie is the author of this message...but sending Hugs from Ron, Kristi, and Zach, also.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING 2003!

Just wanted to share with everyone that Emma is planning on marrying my cousin, Greg when she gets older. I know this because she told me. Of course, it took me a few minutes to figure out what the heck she was talking about, because, "untle daid" is a tough name to decipher.

We were talking about names. She has learned Ellie Rae Grace Weien and wanted me to go through everyone in the family that she could remember. After my direct family and Abbie's including Tariina, she moved on to Greg, who use to visit us a lot last year since he lived in Phoenix. I was impressed since she hadn't seen him in awhile, but it appears that he must have left an impression on her.

I asked her if she thought Patrick and Tariina should get married, and she laughed. Then she told me that she was going to marry me when she gets older. I said that she should marry someone like me, or someone that I really like. Then she said that she was going to marry the Beast, like in Beauty in the Beast. I asked if she really wanted to marry the Beast. She said immediately, "NO!" She thought about it and then said, "Maybe I will may-wee untle daid."

And to top it all off, she just named the stuffed dog that is guarding her bed at night, "untle daid" as well.

He has now reached a level of respect that grown men would die for.