Little Kaden went in today for his two week check-up.  Remember that he weighed 6 lbs 12 oz at birth and 6-5 when he was sent home.  Today he weighed in at a whopping 7 - 10!  Whoot whoot!  I told Michelle that must be some fatty milk she's got!  The doc said he looked very healthy and the acne is normal.  She said it probably hurts Michelle (and me) more than it does Kaden!  I didn't go to the check-up with them.  I subbed today and was pretty tired when I got home.  I don't think I slept more than 3 hours last night.  I was up with Kaden at one point when he was sobbing uncontrollably and Michelle couldn't get him settled down.  I did, and ended up laying down with him next to me on the floor, rubbing his belly.  After awhile, I had Michelle get down and take my place, but I still didn't sleep.  I'm hoping tonight to catch some major zzzzz's.

I sub again tomorrow, then Dave and I head off to Illinois around 4.  We're going to spend the night with some former neighbors, who are hosting a gathering while we're there.  Then on Saturday we'll drive out to the quad cities for a wedding.  I'll post pictures of the wedding Sunday night.

Meanwhile, some gardening pics.

wave petunias

mullet in a pot

a different kind of white iris

foxglove

typing one hand because I'm doing grandma duty with the other!

Bath pictures!  I'm sure you were waiting for these!

Sam hard at the job of bathing Kaden.  This tub is really cool.  The baby is in a sling over the water.  So he's not immersed in it.

Not sure he looks really happy here.  But he wasn't crying.  Michelle tells me that the pimples on his face are getting white.  I told her to call the doctor.  I don't know if that's OK or not!  We thought it was just newborn baby excema.

Before the bath, Dave spotted both boys napping, so Michelle took pictures.

Both mouths open - like father, like son.

Then earlier today, Kaden got a shot at Barney's new toy.  Oops, I mean Kaden's toy.  Barney was batting at the hanging things earlier this morning but the camera wasn't right there and by the time I got it, he'd lost interest.

I'm enjoying a day to get things done while the little family is spending time in Amishland with the other grandma.

I'm listening to this book on tape.  I'd read the second book in the series first and so far, I like that one better.  But I'm just 1/3 of the way through, so we'll see.

We drove up to Muskegon yesterday, so that great-grandma could see her newest great-grandson.  Dave's sister's daughter has two sons, so Kaden makes #3 on the great-grand count for his mom.

Kaden with great-grandma and great-grandpa. 

While we were there we celebrated the wedding with a cake.  It was supposed to be marble, but it was yellow.  I wasn't happy about that!  Oh well.

They were both nice and didn't cram the cake.  I hate that!

Look at the hands in the cousin and g-grand pic. Is she his daughter?  Thought so!  lol (theSunnyC)

No, Sandy is not Al's daughter.  Sandy is Elaine's sister's daughter.  Elaine is Dave's mom.  With me so far?  It is funny that their hands are identical.  I didn't notice that!

Favorite cuz Sandy with the in-laws.

Then Ken with Sandy's son, just being a couple goofy guys.

Gabe is 16 and just got his driver's license.  Beware!  Ken will be done with his may term class at the end of the week.  Then he'll drive directly to Frankfort, IL where he'll spend the summer as a camp counselor.  Fun times!

Barney, this is a baby toy, not a cat mat.

Excuse me, are you listening?   Apparently not.

The baby was very fussy this morning.  I sub both Thursday and Friday so should be interesting how Michelle survives that.  No one to spell her when he fusses.  But, taking care of the baby is all she has to worry about right now.  She'll be OK.  I'll just keep telling her that!

Good.  The book review feature is working.  This was a new author for me.  It was slow to start but I ended up liking it a lot.

I haven't posted garden shots.  And this is the best time of the year in my garden!

The rhododendron, in all it's splendor.

A couple of planters in the bed of vinca vine.

A peony, moved from Illinois, with a blue and yellow container garden.

Iris.  Sorry.  Don't know the variety.  These were the first to bloom for me.

My camera doesn't pick up on violet - it comes out blue.  How can I adjust the camera for that?

An apricot iris.

My entryway container.

These purple iris's have made many moves.  They started out in Big Rock, Ill, moved to Downers Grove, then to Geneseo, and now they are in Granger!  I have no idea of the variety, but I call them grape koolaid iris, since that's what they smell like.  Beth:  Do you want me to bring any to the wedding next weekend?

Some of my many hostas.

These are a different variety of yellow iris than what I posted earlier.

Another predominately hosta bed.

 And the best new growth of all:  Kaden!

I need to take the time to answer a few questions.

Ken is still taking classes at Hope.  He is taking a senior seminar for May term, a four week long special summer term.  So he was unable to drive down for the wedding.  He came down last night and saw the baby for the first time.

Typical Ken look:

By nighttime he was holding Kaden like a pro.  Michelle and Sam and Becca went out for awhile so the rest of us had Kaden duty.  He didn't ever get really fussy, but he did want to be held and wanted to suckle so he went at in on his pacifier.  I was trying to put all the clean clothes away, which were heaped on my bed. so I laid him in the middle of the bed while I folded clothes.  He was OK with that as long as he could look at me.  Wilma didn't like it much.  She's been avoiding him.

Michelle's friend Becca.  She isn't Amish yet.  She's English, but she's going to marry an Amish young man.  That's a long process.  She says it'll take almost two years for her to prepare.  Meanwhile, both she and Michelle like to play Amish dress up.  Have you ever seen a Pacific-Island Amish lady?  I have. 

The new family will be living with us.  We had a little talk last night.  We all agreed that the goal is for them to have a place of their own.  We agreed on some rules up front.

Barney likes to check out Kaden when he's in the bouncy chair, but he doesn't get too close.

We're going to take it easy today.  Ken is heading out to Illinois and will stay the night at his other moms so he can go to church at our old church in the morning.  On Monday we'll all head up to Muskegon so Dave's mom can see the baby.

Enjoy this warm and dry holiday weekend!

Has anyone else had trouble with the Amazon Currently Reading feature?  That's why I haven't posted a book lately.  It keeps telling me to try back later!

More pics.  These were ones that Peter took.

On the way to the courthouse.

Preparing for the storms ahead.

I told you we had a flower girl.

Our daughter and son-in-law.

The wedding.

A tender father/son moment.

Baby kisses.

The old charming courthouse across the street.

Michelle added a lovely topper to her dress while we were eating.

A clinking of the glasses.

Sam and Michelle's wedding.  May 25, 2006 at approximately 4:00 pm.  At a lake in Warsaw, Indiana.

Uncle Ralph officiated.

Dan and Sarah were the witnesses.  I need to get a horizontal oriented photo from Peter - this shot is of Sarah and Peter, brother and sister.

Peter was the photographer, except for these from my camera.  He also caught the bouquet (he he!)

Natalie was the flower girl.

Kaden was the chief attendant.

We went out to eat at a restaurant at Winona Lake, which was the site of the Billy Sunday revivals.

The rains came down shortly after the vows were exchanged.

Other than that, it was a beautiful day.  We got the bride there (late) but she got there.

So in the space of 10 days I have obtained two new titles:  grandma and mother-in-law. 

It was an occasion worthy of wearing a hat!

Michelle's hair looked fantastic.

 I no sooner walked in the door, but Ken called and wanted to know where the photos on xanga were!  So, for my demanding audience, here they are!

Solving this jigsaw puzzle and posting about this U.S. Cellular sweepstakes makes me eligible for free Xanga Premium for life...

Tomorrow I promise lots of photos - of Sam and Michelle's wedding!

Yes, you read that right.  They are going before a judge and will become legal man and wife and make their little family a true unit.  So we had to go buy Michelle a dress that fits and Kaden an adorable little suit, sized premie, so that he looks smart in the photos.

Meanwhile, he just gets cuter and cuter every day.  He's now a week and a day old.  This morning he was awake for 4 hours!  I think that's pretty good for that age.  He looks so serious as he looks things over - I hope he's not a worrier like his mother!

This morning I went on a tour of the trees of Notre Dame with one of my garden clubs.  I have a lot to learn about trees, that's for sure!  Almost every tree has a plaque saying in whose honor or memory it was donated for.  Lots of different varieties - we decided to come back in the fall to see how they look in fall colors!

Bundle of boy.

This was the dessert at the faculty banquet last night/

Most of our tour group.

We all learned a lot about the different trees that work well here.

I promise - more great pics tomorrow!

Apparently my mom is having some serious difficulties with her computers getting online and she's sending everyone here so I can tell you that.  Consider yourself told.  She can fill you in on all the nitty-grittys.  I didn't understand much of what she said.  She was quite distraught though.

We've been having a quiet time here at babyland.  He really is a good baby.  Eats sleeps poops.  Every so often he's up long enough to look around and check out his environment and his people.  Very adorable.

He's a week old today!  Amazing how much our lives have changed in that short week!  Guess a baby will do that for you.

Barney has a new routine.  He thinks 3 a.m. is a fine time to go outside.  Since Sam's leaving right then, why shouldn't the rest of us let him out?  So he knocked off all of my safety pins from the little container I keep on my dresser.  Guess I'll add that to my list of things to clean/pick up.

Michelle and I are hoping to do some baby announcements today.  Dave and I have a faculty dinner at ND tonight so the kids are on their own with feeding themselves.  Michelle made sloppy joes last night (with my guidance).  Her verdict:  "These were easy!"  Yup.  So now she can make a whole lot more foods than she could a year ago.  This gives me great hope.

He really does have eyes.  And he's starting to use them to look at everybody and everything.  The cats are still indifferent/scared.

Peter is enjoying having another nephew.

And I am just besotted. 

Dave and Sam finished installing the flooring the the family room.  Now they just have to put in the trim.  I'm supposed to buy that this week.  It looks really good.  I'm also going to look for an area rug to put the furniture on - that will look more like a grouping since we have that in the middle of the room.  It should look nicely finished once it's done.  maybe I can even figure out where to hang pictures - this room is hard to decorate since it really has just one very long wall that you could hang pictures from.

I'm reading a really different book for me.  I think I like it.  I wasn't sure at first but it took an interesting twist early on and now I'm hooked.