2008 in Review

So we haven't posted a new update in a few months. After receiving many "year-in-review" letters with Christmas Cards from family and friends this year, I was inspired to recap the year myself. Robin updates the blog for the most part, but I (Chris Iller) thought I'd take on this one.

For the most part 2008 wasn't a bad year. If I had to compare it to recent years...it was waaay better then 2005 & 2006, but probably had more highs then 2007. So, 2008...not too shabby as far as the Albuquerque Illers were concerned.

We started off the year with a quick day trip up to the Sandia Mountains (borders the east side of Albuquerque), to do some old fashioned sledding in the snow. And for those of you that think New Mexico is all desert...we have many mountains, ski resorts, and do get snow. Yes, it's true! And for some of you geography challenged folks...New Mexico is actually one of the 50 states that belong to the United States of America (believe it or not, some people think it's another country). But I digress.

Aunt Susan (Robin's Sister) and cousin Grady flew out to New Mexico to spend some time with us and to take part in Josie's 4th Birthday Party Festivities. Josie had her party at one of her new favorite places, Chuck E. Cheese (click here to see the party video)

We returned the favor in the summer and headed out east to Pottsville, Pennsylvania to visit The Zigners (Aunt Susan, Uncle Charlie, and cousin's Grady & Emily). It was Emily's birthday this time. Aunt Elizabeth also came in for the party with Max, as did Grandpa and Grandma Haley. The party was at a cool theme park in Pennsylvania called "Knoebels Amusement Park". We had a cook out (click here to see the video) then headed into the park for fun. While we were in PA, we also couldn't pass up visiting the place where they make one of Josie's favorite candies: The Hershey Kiss. That's right, we went to Hershey's Chocolate World and visited the museum/attraction and store (click here to see the video).

While we were out east, we headed north to Beaver Dams, New York and spent some time with Grandma & Grandpa Haley. Click here to see a video of us at Robin's old childhood playground.

We also headed out to Dayton, Ohio and visited with Great Grandpa Iller and Great Uncle Roy (click here to see the video). It was their first time to meet Archie face-to-face.


While we were in Dayton, I got to head over to the old TV station I used to work at and see a bunch friends I had been missing more than I realized. They took Robin and myself out on the town for a good time. We visited our old house in Centerville and became extremely home sick and wondered why we left Dayton to begin with.

Other trips that took place this year included another trip to Cliff's Amusement Park in Albuquerque, and a trip down to Roswell for this year's UFO Festival. This year, Josie won an award in the alien costume contest (click here to see the video).

During Thanksgiving weekend, we headed up to Durango, Colorado. Robin found out that the old fashioned train station there was doing a recreation of "The Polar Express". All the kids had to get in the Pajamas and hopped on board the train, and headed to The North Pole to visit Santa. Unfortunately, Archie had other plans that involved smashing his fingers in doors...twice on the same trip...with the same fingers. First time happened just before we boarded the train, he went into an old fashioned phone booth and slipped his fingers in the crack as I was shutting the door. He got a huge blood blister, nothing too serious, but he needed some extra time to calm down, and had to miss the train. So just Robin and Josie climbed aboard. The next morning in the hotel room, Archie decided to try sticking his fingers in the bathroom door as it was shutting to see if it would do the same thing. It was worse. I freaked out when I saw his fingers bent sideways and was sure that there was pertinent damage. But after a rush to the hospital, x-rays showed us his fingers were fine...just a little bruised. Needless to say, a hospital trip kind of puts a damper on a nice weekend getaway, and we headed home a little earlier then planned. We hope to visit Durango again soon.



Since the bad stuff is more fun to talk about and creates better stories, here are a few more for you...

We live on a Cul de sac with a total of four houses (including ours), but we face the backs of 5 houses. Almost every one of these houses have outside dogs that looove to bark. And the owners love to leave them outside from the crack of dawn until very late at night and spend no time with them. The barking got so bad we called the police, animal services, the home owners association, etc. We left them notes, and did everything but confront them face to face (we didn't want them to know we were the ones complaining, because we feared it would get ugly). Then the police suggested we try an official police supervised mediation. This took place, and now they knew it was us. Then it got ugly. Several yelling matches, and threats of suing each other occurred. I had to get up at 2am more then once to walk down the street and yell through a door to "bring your dogs in!". It did get better, but it's not resolved (they are barking as I type).



















I did win a case with the Home Owners Association who agreed to fine residents who neglected their dogs and ignored the law when it came to dog barking city ordinances.

It hasn't been too fun becoming the most hated family in our neighborhood for making people actually take care of their dogs, and being labeled as a family of complainers by any organization that we had to battle.

No sooner had those issues been tackled (for the most part), another one arose in our neighborhood. Behind our house is a community owned park, complete with a playground, a large grassy field, and a swimming pool. As soon as school let out for the summer, this park, as well as our street, became a haven for gang activity, drug transactions, and backseat "dates". We even had one drunk driver crash his car into one of the neighbor's brick wall (see picture). I decided to become the neighborhood protector and started confronting these people. First I just chased them off our street. Then at the park, I started getting in their faces. It did get ugly a couple times, and I did fear for my life more then once. But because we had already been labeled as complainers for the dog barking, whenever we reported this activity it was only met with a bunch of eye rolling. But on a few occasions, we did get the police to haul off a few of the bad guys. I've backed off a little with the face-to-face confrontations, but still keep a watchful eye over the neighborhood and fight the battle alone...like Batman does with Gotham City. At least that's how I like to think of my night time activity.

Because of the problems we've had in this neighborhood, we are considering a move to another part of town. But don't know if that's a good idea in this economy. We shall explore that option in 2009.

Towards the end of 2008, Grandma & Grandpa Haley came to Albuquerque for an extended vacation. They got to spend time with us during both my birthday on December 15, and Robin's Birthday on December 20, as well as the birthday of baby Jesus on December 25. They will head out to Phoenix (to the West of us) for a week in January and visit relatives in Colorado (to the north of us), but be back for Josie's Birthday on January 29.




This year also hit us hard in the finance book. With several unexpected expenses (high property tax hike being the main culprit), we discovered our credit cards were getting a major work out. So towards the end of the year, we cut back on a lot of stuff. We will probably spend a lot of 2009 paying off those credit cards and creating new spending habits.

We did finally find a baby-sitter we trust this year, so when finances allow for it, Robin and I actually get to go out on short dates (baby sitters charge a lot these days) from time to time.

In other news, we started attending a new church. It's called Sagebrush Community Church. It's a non-denominational church. Very casual dress code, the pastor is a very good speaker, and it's a huge congregation. It's fairly new, and we just like it a lot. In the next year we plan on becoming more involved.


Now for some individual updates:

Chris Iller
Other then becoming a neighborhood vigilante and a crusader for the rights of ignored pets, work has kept me pretty busy this past year. Extremely busy during the summer, where I usually got into to work around 5am and left at 6pm.

One event I helped plan & organize involved a Free Community Event for the TV stations. This event was focused on stand-up comedy. We teamed up with a local Comedy Club and conducted a competition for the best local amateur comedian. We also flew in a few stand up comedians, including one of my favorites , Kevin Meaney. The goal was for the public to associate our TV stations with laughter, and to fulfill an FCC requirement that we have to do something good for the community. Even though attendance was lower then I was hoping for, it still had a good crowd, and it ended with a standing ovation, which was mostly for Kevin Meaney. It looks like it might become an annual event for the station, and it was an idea I had been kicking around for years. So I was happy it turned out well.

Other then work, I became obsessed with the Family Tree. I started collecting old photographs from as far back as I can on the Iller side of my family and have been documenting as much as I can. During my visit with my Grandfather in Dayton, I took some time to ask a lot of questions and took notes, and borrowed and scanned hundreds and hundreds of photos. Also got a chance to have some of my old Super 8 home movies of my childhood digitized to DVD & Blu Ray. If I haven't hit you up for info on the family...especially photos and video...don't worry...I will. In most cases, I'm offering to have old photos scanned professionally, and will return the photos to you a few months later with a disc of all the photos that can be easily copied and shared with any family member who wants them. My goal for 2009 is to hit up my mom's side of the family. So be prepared.

Another hobby of mine that became somewhat of an obsession was Facebook. I joined Facebook and MySpace to see what the kids are doing these days (part of my job to know who I'm marketing too and what tools to use). But Facebook connected me too a ton of old friends and faces I hadn't seen in about 20 years. It's been great finding out what people have been up to that you thought you'd never see or hear from again. Many of my old friends from my Disney days as well as my church youth group days have all been popping up and we are discussing possible official reunions. I'd love to see that happen in 2009.



Robin Iller
Robin has been doing great at juggling the kids' schedules and mastering the art of working with insurance companies, doctors and such. I know she gets pretty frustrated with spending so much time on the phone and argueing and petitioning, etc. But she wins, and I'm pretty darn proud of her. She has joined a local Organ Doner group and we've attended a couple events and worked their booth at the local Fair. She has been making some good friends with some of the other mom's of Josie's preschool class, and actually getting to go out for some fun without me. She also volunteered with our Home Owner's Association's annual Fall Chili-Cook out to organize the Halloween Costume Contest for the kids for the 2nd year in a row.


Archie Iller
(turned 2 in March)

Archie had a good year. No heart related hospital visits! Early in the year, he figured out how to stand up on his own. Development-wise, Archie is still catching up for being in survival mode his first year. It's pretty common for most kids to start taking their first steps and first words around the 1 year mark. Archie was just learning how to stand with assistance in January just before the 2 year mark. He still has many visits to all types of doctors and therapists to check in on him and help him keep moving forward. They sent us a treadmill for him to practice taking steps on. And a walker that he could scoot around the house on. One of the therapies Archie participated in was something called Hippo therapy. In this therapy, Archie got to ride a horse once a week. They say it helps simulate walking movement and a lot of kids start progressing towards walking and talking faster. I don't know if it really helped or not, but Archie liked riding the horse. This past Fall, Archie started attending a pre-school for Special Needs Kids at one of the local Elementary Schools. He even gets picked up and dropped off on a School Bus (which he loves to ride in). This school has helped a lot. He eats and drinks on his own there, and is starting to at home. In October, just before Halloween, something clicked and Archie started walking full force. In fact, he'd open the front door and just start walking down the street. He doesn't talk much at this point, but he understands what we are saying to him in most cases, and he hums along with songs remarkably well. His recognizable vocabulary consists mainly of "uh-oh" and "wow!". He loves to do puzzles and instead of a Teddy Bear, he has something that's affectionately been named "Stinky Elephant". It's a blanket with an Elephant head on it that he loves to chew on. It's pretty disgusting, but it comforts him, so what can you do?

Josie (turned 4 in January):
This year, Josie is growing up before our eyes. She is definitely a social butterfly, and loves to make friends with anybody she comes across. She has continued her pre-school classes at a local Methodist Church, where she has made some good friends. We also started signing her up for lessons. In the summer she started swimming lessons and didn't do too bad for somebody who can't stand water on her face. She also is taking some dance lessons, and learning ballet and tap. She has also become quite the little artist. Her drawing skills really improved greatly over the year, and has taken a liking to drawing little pictures here and there. She has also taken up an interest in photography. Even though it made me nervous to hand over an expensive digital camera to a 4 year old, I was happy to see her testing out her skills and taking pictures of different objects. For Christmas, Santa brought her a cheapy digital camera for kids for her to practice on and so that I wouldn't be as nervous. Now that she's become more comfortable behind the camera, she has finally taken a liking to having her picture taken as well (she really didn't like people snapping photos of her before). She also was cast as a "featured extra" in one of the many big movies that have been filming in New Mexico. The movie is tentivley titled "GAME". It is scheduled to come out on Labor Day 2009, and stars Gerard Butler (300, Nim's Island) as well as many other big names, and is made by the same guys who made the movie Crank. Josie plays Gerard Butler's daughter in flash back scenes and photos. We have no idea how much of her performance will make it into the final film. She could wind up completely on the cutting room floor. Plus, we have a feeling it's a very adult film, and are kind of nervous to see what she's been associated with. But it's all kind of exciting too.


That about does it for the report this year. Robin and I will be posting updates on the blog when interesting things come up or when we have an update on Archie's health status. Thanks for checking in on us.

Fall Family Update

Archie has been attending his special-needs preschool (pictured above) since August and really likes it! He even takes the school bus (which is his favorite part!). He has been attempting to walk solo at school and at home...taking lots of steps independently...he still isn't saying any distinct words and we are trying to find a pediatric speech therapist who can work one-on-one with him more than once a week...speech therapists in Albuquerque are in high demand so we are lucky he's getting some speech therapy thru preschool...Archie is part of a Pulmonary Conduit Study with the Congenital Heart Surgeons Society. The study follows pediatric patients with heart defects that are similar to Archie's...so thanks to this study, we have FINALLY been able to find some additional information on Archie's rare heart defect and what's in store...his pulmonary conduit/homograft (given by an organ donor ) should function well for at least 3 years from the time it is surgically placed. Archie has had his 2 years this past June and it is still functioning well per his cardiologists. It is extremely rare for the conduit to fail overnight, its a slow/gradual process, which gives cardiology, his surgeons and us, plenty of time to prepare for his next surgery - which is a RELIEF...The estimated three years for a conduit is an average, so we are hoping that Archie's conduit/homograft will continue to function well until he is old enough to "handle surgery".

Josie is having fun at preschool and likes her new teacher Mrs. Karol. She is also taking tap/ballet/gymnastics at The Little Gym and her classes are taught by very energetic high school girls which pairs well with very energetic four year old girls! Robin, Josie and some of Josie's friends from school were also in a commercial for a local pumpkin patch...

Chris' comedy event in downtown Albuquerque was a success and will be an annual event every Labor Day. He is also hoping that with the economy in the tank, more people will save their money, stay home and watch The CW and My50-TV...and so far the ratings have been good!

Robin decided not to try out for the New Mexico Symphony choir because it was geared towards retirees and empty-nesters...The American Heart Association and Donate Life New Mexico asked her to speak about Archie at some upcoming events...public speaking is so not one of her hobbies but these are important causes so she'll give it a shot...

Have a Happy Autumn!

p.s. take a look at new photos in our September 2008 Photo Album!

a jam-packed July!

Archie attended his very first vacation bible school at one of our local Lutheran churches...it was geared towards special needs kids and run by teenagers from the congregation. Archie was paired with Maria, the coolest and sweetest 15 year old! She plays mandolin, has a pet hedgehog AND she babysits! woohoo! Archie enjoyed himself and it was a good experience for him, especially since he will be starting preschool in about 3 weeks...he can crawl down the stairs now, take his spoon/fork out of his mouth (Chris taught him that) and he likes bellyflopping onto the couch cushions...his verbal skills are still limited but he will repeat some things we say with a little coaching.

We were invited to a picnic that an organ transplant awareness group was hosting and met some nice people who were organ recipients and donors. Their favorite member, a 13 year old named Kyle who had a heart transplant at 9 days old, was participating in the Transplant Games in Philly! We are hoping to meet him and his family in October at Balloon Fiesta (Donate Life New Mexico is sponsoring a balloon and we are going to help launch it). A social worker with UNM Children's Hospital is also going to help Robin start a monthly support group for parents/caregivers of kids with heart problems...

Josie is finishing up summer school...we went to the aquarium last week with her class and had fun with the fishes...she is learning how to take pictures with our digital camera and we'll post some of her shots on here soon - she has a good eye!

Chris is still busy planning The CW's comedy event in downtown Albuquerque and helping with America's Next Top Model, which is coming to Albuquerque next week AND working on a new creation/invention that we are hoping to sell here in Albuquerque, can't say much about it just yet...still in the planning stages...but if it takes off we'll show ya what it is :)

Robin was invited to be a Freecycle co-moderator for our Albuquerque group which has over 6,000 members! Robin LOVES freecycle...check it out at www.freecycle.org. She's also thinking about auditioning for the New Mexico Symphony Chorus but is a little nervous about it because she hasn't really sang since highschool (except for singing in the car sometimes) so we'll see! and this Saturday Breaking Dawn is released! its the last book in an awesome series...can not wait to read it!

whew! thats it for now...enjoy the rest of summer!

p.s. "Game", the movie Josie did some scenes with Gerard Butler in, will be released Summer 2009 instead of this Christmas...

great trip!

We are back home in the southwest after visiting the northeast! In Ohio, Archie met his Great-Grandpa Iller and Great-Uncle Roy for the very first time! Then we drove to upstate New York and visited Grandma and Grandpa Haley in Beaver Dams. Next stop, Pennsylvania and cousin Emily's 3rd birthday party! whew! It was a nice change of scenery, and very green scenery too...(you miss that color when you live in the desert).

Archie was a pretty good traveler - a little squirmy and squally on the plane, um like all 2-year-olds. He enjoyed climbing in and out of everyone's cupboards and riding around with Uncle Roy. Since returning home, he has been doing laps around the house on his walker, its like he's training for a marathon! We think our vacation has triggered off his adventurous streak because he's been attempting to crawl down stairs too! He still isn't talking yet but he's eating like a horse.

Josie loved seeing the town she was born in (Centerville, Ohio) and visiting all of her relatives - the trampoline and swimming pool at her cousin's house were definite high points and visiting Hershey Park! (chocolate is a food group for her). She starts swimming lessons this week and "summer school" in July.

Robin is looking into volunteering with a heart group at our local hospital once school starts in August and Chris is getting ready to beam down to Roswell, New Mexico to promote The Daily Buzz, The CW and My50TV at the UFO Festival over 4th of July weekend and he's producing a comedy show in August.

Have a cool summer!

P.S. thank you to everyone for showing us such a good time!

Big Man on Campus :)

Archie has been accepted into Albuquerque's developmental preschool program. He will be going to school 5 days a week beginning in August. He'll be in a class with 8 other kids and he will have occupational, physical and speech therapists working with him as well. Its a big step for Archie but we think (and hope!) he will enjoy being around other children his age...other than that big news, Archie is still eating well and learning how to pick up his cup and spoon. He has lost some weight since the g-tube removal but we think having a big ol' tummy was throwing off his balance. He will walk/wobble with us if we hold his hands and guide him. He hasn't spoken any real words yet, but his listening skills are very advanced ;) He LOVES music: The Banana Boat Song (Day-O) by Harry Belafonte, is one of his favorites...

Josie's preschool class will be finishing up in May... she is looking forward to our trip to Ohio (where she was born!), New York and Pennsylvania to see Great Grandpa Iller, Great Uncle Roy, Grandma and Grandpa Haley, and her Aunts, Uncle and cousins.

Chris is working on the big April/May TV sweeps by giving away hundreds of Wii's - which should help boost the stations' ratings!

Robin just finished reading Twilight, New Moon and Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer, the best book series since Harry Potter.

The whole family went to a casting call this month for Terminator 4 (!), starring Christian Bale, which is filming in Albuquerque over the summer...we haven't gotten any call-backs yet but maybe thats a good thing because Arnold isn't in this one ;)

We also went to Cliff's Amusement Park and will post pictures soon - Archie went on a ride with his big sister for the first time :)

ENJOY SPRING (it seems to fly by)

p.s. if you want to see a real honest-to-goodness tumbleweed (who wouldn't?), check out our April 2008 photo album

a good Friday :)

Archie had an appointment today with his gastro-enterologist to discuss removing his feeding tube....Dr. Fahl walked in said "Happy Easter" and proceeded to take out the tube! YAY! His dietitian, feeding clinic team and pediatrician all feel that Archie is eating enough orally now and his blood work came back a-ok. Sooo we no longer have to carry feeding pumps, extension cords, power supplies, ice packs, feeding bags and cans of Pediasure with us on trips, Archie won't get tangled up in tubing when he's trying to sleep and other than his belly button, he won't have anything sticking out of his tummy anymore! Josie helped put two band-aids on his tummy to cover up his "boo-boo" which should be healed in a few days...

There is a small down-side to this happy news...with the removal of his feeding-tube, Archie is no longer considered medically-fragile and will lose his Medicaid funding which paid for his prescriptions, doctors visits, speech therapy (he's still babbling) physical therapy, hippotherapy and the feeding clinic, which we will still be attending. Archie needs to learn how to feed himself, drink from a cup, chew harder foods (like pretzels, celery, etc). It was nice having Medicaid pay for everything but in the long run we'd much rather have his feeding tube out and hopefully he won't need therapy much longer if he keeps up the good work!

Our family will be participating in Albuquerque's American Heart Association Heart Walk on March 29th. We just found out about it and apologize for the short notice but would appreciate any help you can give!

http://heartwalk.kintera.org/faf/search/searchParticipants.asp?ievent=239677&lis=0&kntae239677=6A7817A276D04D8CADD46A8C97141BFC

Please enter 'ROBIN ILLER' in the participant section if you would like to donate.

Thank you and have a Happy and Healthy Easter Weekend!

p.s. We also had a wonderful visit with Grandma Haley, who helped celebrate Archie's 2nd Birthday this month!

Fantastic Four!

Josie turned the big oh-four last week and we celebrated at Chuck E. Cheese with her preschool class and all the way from PA. her Aunt Susan and cousin Grady (pictured above) on Josie's favorite "rollercoaster ride". It was a Princess and Pirate party and after the castle cake that Chris made was pillaged, we all took long naps (the kids too!) Josie got some very creative and sweet gifts from her friends...artsy-craftsy stuff & tons of tiara's! Click here to see a very short video of Josie blowing out the candles on the cake.

Archie is doing well, a bit fiesty and argumentative lately, I guess we are getting a taste of the terrible two's a little early...He's climbing/crawling all the way up the stairs (did it today!) and cruising along furniture and pops up to a stand without any trouble. He still isnt talking, which is probably why he is soo frustrated these days - hopefully speech therapy will help and maybe some sign language too. We are still working on getting the feeding tube out soon. Hippotherapy is going well, his therapist even lets Josie take a ride too, since its hard seeing her liitle brother getting a pony ride every week (even though its therapy).

We are planning a trip to Ohio to see Grandpa Jake, Uncle Roy, and hopefully the Chicago Illers, and go to Emily's (Grady's little sister) birthday in June. We haven't visited the northeast in a loong time so we are looking forward to it - plus Archie will meet his Great Grandpa for the first time!

Enjoy the Superbowl today - hope your favorite team wins! (I just want the kicker from Scotland to have a good game and I'm looking forward to a new episode of HOUSE! ;)