Uncle Jon Brings on the Fun

What more can I say? Uncle Jon brings the fun

and teaches Auden valuable motor skills.

Happy Holidays!

Home and Healthy

Auden is back and healthy after his stint in the

hospital. The operation was successful, but he

had an infection in the incision which was slow

to heal and kept up us in the hospital for a

full week.

It was a busy time with mad dashes to pickup

Simone and cross the border to relieve each other

at the hospital. We are glad to be through with this

chapter and all under one roof again.

Tummy Trouble

Auden is at the hospital tonight for an unexpected surgery. He was diagnosed with pyloric stenosis, a narrowing of the pylorus, which is the lower part of the stomach where food passes into the small intestine. The muscle in the pylorus is enlarged, preventing food from emptying out of the stomach and causing vomiting.

The surgeon was going to do the surgery today (11/21), but Auden’s electrolyte count, potassium level, and hydration were out of balance. He is receiving nourishment through an IV and will most likely have the operation on Saturday morning. It is a pretty common surgery and only takes around 20 minutes to complete, but he will still have to stay in the hospital for couple of days.

We will keep you posted.

More Pictures...

Simone is still loving "Baby", except when she isn't.On one recent occasion,
she rather unexpectedly threw a bamboo steamer at Auden's head.
No real contact or injuries to report.

Catching one of twenty hours of sleeping in a day.

Daddy's girl.

Nana Ward enjoys her new grandson.

Introducing Auden!

Introducing Auden Taylor DuBord,
born 10.24.2008 at 1:42 am,
9 lbs 4 ozs and 20 inches.

Jen started feeling contractions at 10:00, we dropped off
Simone and the dog, crossed the border, and we were at the
hospital by 11:00. Jen was already 7 cm dilated and gave
birth 3 hours later, just before 2:00 am.

Dr. Sanchez, the pediatrician on call at the hospital, said
that we had a very healthy boy whose only problem might
be that he is a little too big; Jen concurs. It begs the question,
how do two small people like us get off having this chunker?

Moments after birth...

We thought that we had really chosen a unique
name, at least based on the number of times
we have spelled it, but Jen's aunt Phyllis
added Auden to the electronic family tree and found that
there was an Auden Taylor DuBord born in Connecticut in 1963.

Simone has taken surprisingly well to Auden
and seems to be have accepted him as a permanent
member of our family. She keeps pointing at him
and saying "BABY, BABY!".

Grito

We took in our first grito or shout for Mexican Independence.

Piano Practice

Jen and Simone got to visit Gunka and Nana in Wisconsin

in July. Cathy, Jon and Phyllis also all made the journey.

It proved to be great respite from summer heat

in Matamoros.

You might remember from some of the other photos of Simone
that Cathy is starting her own child photography
business and she has put those skills to work with
many great shots of Simone. Thanks Cathy for all the free work!!!

Check out her pictures at

http://cathywardphotography.blogspot.com/

Electronica 1

Electronica 2

Labor Day in San Antonio

Jen and Simone stop to smell the flowers on the Riverwalk

Our B&B had a wonderful outdoor patio for exploration and a relaxed breakfast.

King William Historic District

San Antonio has some amazing historic homes along the southern bank of the Riverwalk. This area was originally settled by well-to-do German merchants.

Pancakes for Dinner

Blueberry pancakes. Need we say more?

Privacy Please!

Everyone needs a place to get away and suck down 8ozs of milk.

July 4th in Mexico

We recently celebrated our first 4th of July in Mexico. The 4th is the big holiday for the Foreign Service community, where the US mission usually throws a big party, inviting colleagues from the local community. Matamoras is no different. On the day of the 4th, we had an afternoon banquet with jazz band, mariachi band and speeches commemorating America’s birthday.

That night the Consulate sponsored a jazz concert at the central plaza that the whole DuBord family attended.

On one side of the square was a traditional dance in front of a church and the other side was the jazz event.

Isle de Padre

Can you say, "ready for the beach?"

We have been to South Padre Island twice now

and it has proved to be one of our favorite things

about Matamoros, albeit that it is in the US.

This is me walking out into the waves with a

colleague of mine and spouse of one another colleague.

(The smallest one is Simone; I guess you never know

with the DuBords.)

On our first trip to the beach, Simone screamed

bloody murder when the water hit her toes and

she scampered up my back.

This time, as you can see, see went charging

down to the waves and even stood on her

own in the water. Amazing what a couple

of weeks will do.

Saddle Up

So, when you live with one foot in Texas

and the other in Mexico, it seems appropriate

to get comfortable in a saddle.

Pony for the second birthday?

Tiny Finding Friends

These pictures were the last ones we took

before getting in the car to drive down to Mexico.

Ms. Keyonta and Ms. Pope, two of Simone's caregivers at

Tiny Findings, gave big hugs when we left.

We just wanted to say thanks

for all of the love and support that you gave

to Simone and our family during our

time at Tiny Findings. Simone likes

to sit and go through the scrapbook you made

of all her friends and she misses you all!