There And Back

This is going to be a big one, so hang on and for you people that fall asleep when reading, hopefully it’s not to long for you.

Two weeks ago, Baby Butikofer was given the name of Aaron Eric. He and Charlotte are doing very well. He eats like a champ and we are so excited for them and can’t wait for McKenna and Aaron to be able to play together.

We had a very good trip (all things considered) to Kentucky. We left Wednesday the 9^th after we both got off work and arrived in Kentucky at about 2:30am. Suzanne sat in the back with McKenna and fed her when she needed to and about 9pm she was out until we got there and our “baby doll” wouldn’t be quiet. The next day we traveled to Martin KY for “Pap’s” services. The Kentucky State Police posted an Honor Guard each day of the visitation and before the funeral. On our way to the burial, there were 30 police that escorted us and blocked off intersections for their brother to go to his final resting place. What an honor it was to be involved. I knew that LouAnn and Rodney had a lot of friends, but the procession to the cemetery was at least 3 miles long. Then Saturday afternoon after the burial, we went back to Georgetown, KY. It was very nice to sit, relax, and have some good conversation with everyone that made the trip. I would again like to thank LouAnn, Lois & Barry for putting us and everyone else up during our stay. The trip home was a little more eventful than the way down. We got to Champaign, IL and McKenna must have gotten car sick and we had sweet potatoes and a couple bottles of formula all over our car. We stopped to clean that up and the rest of the trip home was fine.

Last week on Friday, we had a NICU follow up with one of the NICU doctors and two of the physical therapists. McKenna did very well and they were pleased with her development. They tried to do a hearing test on her since she still hasn’t passed and she moves around and makes to much noise for them to get a good reading so we may have to bring her in sometime when she’s sleeping.

This week has already been crazy. As most of you know, Suzanne and I are participating in the March Of Dimes RIDE again this year. I have added a link to that website under the ‘Links’ section on the right side of this page. March of Dimes picked Suzanne and I to be the ambassador family for this ride and we got to film a short part in a commercial which will air on KCRG starting tomorrow and randomly after that up to the ride on September 23^rd. I got to view it today and it was pretty cool. Hopefully I will be able to get a digital copy of it and post it on here. The fund raising efforts have been going very well so far. There is a month to go and have collected almost $1,300. Last year I collected $2,200 and I would love to go way over that as this year I have 2 really good reasons to ride. So if you’d like to donate, either follow the link on the right or goto www.marchofdimesride.org/dsfelton

And now for today, McKenna had her 9 month check up and all is well. She weighed 15 lbs. 6 oz. and was 26 inches long. She is actually on the growth charts now for full term babies. Hopefully the way she’s growing, she might be all caught up by the time we take her in for her 12 month check up. We did however find out that she has a double ear infection. She hasn’t complained or given us any reason to think she had this, but her Dr. saw it in both ears and gave her some antibiotics and we’ll go back in 3 weeks to see if it helped or we may need to have tubes put in. Dr. Nau was very happy with her progress and said to keep doing what we’re doing.

I have a few new pictures of McKenna playing with all the other girls down in Kentucky that I will get posted in the ‘August Pictures’ link. I have also added a link under 'Nieces & Nephews' of Sophia's Baptism. Take care and hopefully everyone is enjoying their summer.