Life with Donnie and Ryan

I Was BLIND!

2009-08-08T09:11:00.001-04:00

Near the end of my pregnancy with Ryan, I developed preeclampsia. And because I'm nerdy like that, I researched that condition a lot. I knew all the possible things that could happen to me, including seizures, strokes, blindness and even death. Thankfully, that pregnancy had a wonderful outcome but it was still worrisome.

Needless to say, during this pregnancy the fear of developing preeclampsia again has always been in the back of mind. Not something I've been actively worried about but definitely something that I think about from time to time.

A couple of weeks ago, I woke up around (I think) 2:30 in the morning for what felt like my 15th bathroom run to absolute pitch black darkness. I couldn't see a thing. Not.one.single.thing. I held my hands in front of my eyes: nothing! I turned toward my nightstand, felt around for my alarm clock and held that in front of my eyes: nothing! Felt around for my lamp and turned it on: nothing! Turned around, felt for the curtains, ripped them open, looked outside: NOTHING! No stars, no moon, no street lights, no house lights. Nothing! By this point, I was in a near panic, pretty darn close to tears. I just knew that I had gone blind. Everything was black! I was convinced I had developed preeclampsia and it had gotten so bad that I was now blind.

I decided to try one more thing. I climbed out of bed, stumbled blindly across the room to my dresser, picked up my cell phone and pressed a button. Light! OMG! I wasn't blind!! I could see my phone! Hallelujah! It was a miracle!!

So, here I was in the midst of my blond moment for the year, quite possibly the decade. Turns out the power had gone out. Not just at our house, but in the entire neighborhood which explained why I couldn't see anything outside either.

So I proudly woke my husband up to proclaim: "I'm not blind!! Donnie!! I'm not blind!!!!!"

I probably don't need to describe the look I received from him....

Pregnancy Update!

2009-05-12T12:31:00.001-04:00

Just a reminder to check out my pregnancy journal (located in the blog list to the right). I've put up some ultrasound pictures and a GENDER UPDATE!!

Check it out!!

Popsicle Time!

2009-05-04T12:36:00.001-04:00

One of Ryan's favorite things in the whole word is a popsicle. And he always asks for the same color everytime: "Boo." I just thought these pictures were too cute not to share. Oh and please ignore his dirty face....the boy loves playing in the woods with his daddy.

Easter!

2009-04-12T16:26:00.000-04:00

Ryan had so much fun with his Easter basket this year! It was full of little plastic eggs and each egg held "candy" (little egg shaped fruit snacks).

His bunny glasses....he wasn't too thrilled with these at first.

We then went to Donnie's family reunion (Sorry, no pictures! I forgot my camera!), then to my parents' house where Ryan had an Easter Egg Hunt (Again, no pictures! Oops!) and then Ryan learned how to fly a kite. He did it all by himself! I was so proud of my big boy!

Playing ball with Grandma and Grandpa...

I just love these pictures of Ryan!

Just a Little Under Age

2009-04-10T16:27:00.000-04:00

Ryan and I went to lunch today with a friend of mine. We decided to go to the Mexican restaurant in town because, well, what else is there?

Evidently, Ryan needed a little something more than water to help wash down his chicken quesadilla so when the waiter came by and asked if there was anything else we needed, Ryan promptly replied,

"Beer."

Ryan's Two-Year Check-Up

2009-04-02T12:22:00.002-04:00

Ryan had his 2-year check-up today and he did great! He now weighs 32 lbs and is 36 1/2 inches tall, both in the 90th percentile (which he has been in since day 1). He's my big boy! The doctor says he is the size of an average 3 year old. Crazy!

He had to get one shot and Daddy got to hold Ryan through it so Ryan did great! He only cried a little bit. The doctor asked about his language skills so we went through all the words he can say. At his last appointment, I was a little concerned that he was behind, but the doctor says he has now caught up for his age! I was so relieved to hear that!

It was funny because everything the doctor asked if he was doing yet (eating with a fork/spoon, obeying two-part commands, throwing a ball overhand, etc. etc.), Ryan's actually been doing for months, some he started doing a year ago. She said Ryan is definitely ahead for his age.

Also, Ryan is doing so great with his colors! Ryan, Donnie and I were in the car yesterday and Ryan was eating a fruit snack in the back seat. With every piece, he would hold it up and tell us what color is was. It was so cute! (We weren't even prompting him or asking him - he just started doing it!)

Thankfully, Ryan doesn't have to go back to the doctor for another year, and he doesn't even need anymore shots for two more years.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Ryan!!!

2009-03-28T10:10:00.001-04:00

We had Ryan's Second Birthday Party today and it turned out GREAT! It was supposed to rain all day and I was so worried but thankfully the rain held off until after the party. (And by "after the party", I mean immediately after the party. We were only home for 10 minutes before the bottom fell out, flooding our yard.)

Donnie setting his grill up. The tiny grills at the park just wasn't going to cut it.
The food!

Ryan and Grandpa ("Bam-pa", as Ryan calls him), both looking absolutely thrilled!

Birthday boy was thirsty!

My dad even brought his pedal-boat.

Here is my Grandmother and my dad taking it out on the lake.
Me and Jennifer. (We were having a conversation about the alligators and wondering if they could jump up into the boat!)

Walking back to the picnic site from the lake.

Doesn't Ryan look cute in his life vest?!

Ryan and Harley playing with bubbles.Cake time!Ryan was nice enough to share with Daddy.

(He's such a sweet boy!)
The presents! (And this wasn't even ALL of them!)
Such a happy boy!! He was having so much fun!

His new ~~piggy~~ monkey bank.

Opening more gifts...

We had the party at Lake Warren State Park and it was a perfect location. I'll have to keep it in mind for future parties!

Milestone Update

2009-03-23T12:19:00.004-04:00

As Ryan's 2nd birthday is quickly approaching, I decided to take the time to jot down some milestones.

I found an article online that says children 2 years old can do the following:

Can tell at least six body parts in a doll - Ryan can definitely do this. The body parts Ryan can locate are nose, eyes, mouth, tongue, teeth, cheek, forehead, eyebrows, chin, hair, ears, neck, belly, shoulder, arms, hands, fingers, elbows, knees, feet, toes, and hiney.

About half of what he says is clear and understandable - Most of what Ryan says is understandable.

Can make short sentences - Eh, this is pretty much something he is working on now. He can say "I love you", "I want that", or "Bye Daddy (Mommy)". The words he currently knows are: eye, me, mine, tractor, truck, car, van, bike, boat, bus, in, out, up, down, stop, go, move, uh-oh, bad, blue, yellow (he says Lellow), green, red, brown, pink, black, pup-pup, dog, cat, cow, duck, ice, bath, boy, baby, book, hi, bye-bye, Tigger (he says Gigger), Pooh, Darby, Eeyore, boo-boo, ow, owie, pee-pee, poop, boots, Daddy, Mommy, Grandpa (sounds like Bam-pa), Grandma (sounds like Bam-ma), balloon (sounds like Boon), 'night-'night, ho-ho-ho (I have to add this because he says this ALL THE TIME - I think he is a little obsessed with Christmas), and I'm sure there are a ton I am missing but this is all of can think of right now.

Expresses his likes and dislikes and talks about himself - He is very clear about his likes and dislikes. I'm not sure if he actually talks about himself, but he does have the "me" and "mine"-thing down pat.

Can arrange and categorize things - From what I can tell, he can do this.

Can walk down stairs - He's been able to do this for quite some time (like, almost a year).

Learns and understands simple abstract words and concepts like sooner and later - Definitely. And he'll remember too. If you tell him that we'll do something "later", he will remind you later.

Understands gender differences - I think so. He will definitely point out a boy in a book and say "boy".

Starts jumping - Ha! Ryan has been jumping for quite some time (like, almost a year as well). I do believe this is his absolute favorite thing to do. He is ALWAYS jumping.

What Can I Say...

2009-02-25T16:57:00.000-05:00

The boy loves stickers.....

Big News!

2009-02-19T16:56:00.003-05:00

I'm pregnant!!!!! We're so excited to be expecting again! (We've known for several weeks now but I didn't want to scream it from the rooftops until we had our first appointment - which was this past Friday). I've started another journal to keep up with all things pregnancy related and you can find it in my blog list on the right side of the screen. There is already a journal entry over there so check it out. I'll be updating with belly photos again, too (for those of you who enjoyed them last time around)! I haven't scanned in our first ultrasound picture yet but I will be doing that very soon.

Of course, there will be the occasional pregnancy-related tidbit overflowing onto this blog (scroll down and you'll see what I mean) but for the most part, everything will be in the pregnancy journal.

Yay!

Our Mini-Vacation

2009-02-09T12:15:00.000-05:00

Donnie and I traveled all the way to Tampa, Florida this past weekend to fulfill one of Donnie's Christmas gifts: to go watch a UFC fight! We had so much fun and it was so nice to get away for the weekend.

Here is a picture of the Sun Dome, where the fight took place:

The famous "Octagon":

Joe Rogan talking to one of the fighters after a fight:
Jens Pulver was literally 3 feet away from us!

When we left Tampa the morning after the fight, we decided to drive further south a do a little sight-seeing.

Going over the Howard Frankland Bridge....

Driving over the Sunshine Skyway!

We even stopped at Disney World to get Ryan a souvenir...

We had so much fun and plan on taking many more mini-vacations!!!

Snow!

2009-01-19T12:15:00.000-05:00

Here are a couple pictures of Ryan enjoying his first snow. Of course, since we are in South Carolina, there wasn't a lot of snow and it obviously didn't even stick to the ground, but it was just enough to let Ryan run around in it for a little bit.

Pointing at the snow! He was fascinated by it!

Trip to Augusta & Ivory's Baptism

2009-01-18T12:06:00.001-05:00

We spent the weekend in Augusta for Ivory's Baptism. We had a lot of fun spending time with family. We had a cookout on Saturday and the baptism was on Sunday. Here's a bunch of pictures:

Grandmother holding her newest great-granddaughter

Alex giving her baby sister kisses

It's virtually impossible to get a picture of these

three toddlers and a newborn with their Great-Grandmother.

Mary being silly

Alex being silly

Nicole and Ivory right before the Baptism

Ryan being silly

The Godparents (Richard and I)

Mommy Shortcuts

2009-01-12T08:53:00.006-05:00

Working full-time and then coming home to be a wife, mommy, housekeeper and chef can be pretty hectic at times. There are certain things that I have had to do (or teach Ryan to do) that make my life a little bit easier. Here are a few "Mommy Shortcuts" that help me stay (somewhat) sane:

- While Ryan is taking a bath, I take advantage of all that extra time (you know, after I've washed him, but before he's ready to get out) by cleaning my bathroom. Also, another bathtime timesaver: Ryan brushes his teeth during his bath. He's got a little routine: I wash him, then he brushes his teeth, then he gets to play (while mommy cleans).

- I taught Ryan to feed himself at a very young age (not quite 6 months old). He also learned how to use a fork/spoon at an early age (right at 10 months old). I consider this a "Mommy Shortcut" because once Ryan learned how to feed himself, it cut our meal time in half. I no longer had to feed Ryan and THEN feed myself. We have all been able to eat together at the same time for over a year now.

- Another mealtime shortcut: teaching Ryan how to use a napkin. Ryan wipes his own face and hands and has been doing so for about a year. As a matter of fact, if I forget to give him a napkin at the beginning of a meal, he'll ask for mine. (Of course, I still give him a thorough wipe after the meal is over but he's really not that messy at the end of a meal because he's constantly wiping his face and hands during the meal.) We packed away our bibs over a year ago. (That's another plus: less laundry.)

- We taught Ryan to clean up after himself. This goes for ANY mess he makes: toys, clothes, spills, food, etc. I keep a kitchen towel hanging from my stove at all times. Ryan knows exactly where it is and what it is for. If he spills his milk, he says "Uh Oh!" and then grabs the towel and cleans up his mess. Also, when he is done playing with a toy, he picks it up and puts it where it belongs. He does all of this without me telling him to. This saves me TONS of time and Ryan is always so proud of himself when he cleans things up. (Granted, for Ryan, putting his toys away can sometimes mean getting it really close to where it actually is supposed to go. But we always praise him for trying.) Also, Ryan throws his own diapers in the trash, as well as picking up any other trash and throwing it away.

- He lets the dogs in/out so they can potty. Okay, maybe this is just a little bit of laziness on mine and Donnie's part but Ryan really gets a kick out letting the dogs in/out of the house. And to be technical, we didn't teach Ryan to do this; he just started doing it on his own.

My Quirkiness (Otherwise Known as My Psychotic Tendencies)

2009-01-07T10:35:00.001-05:00

I've noticed that almost everyone around me has their own little quirks. One person I know lifts their feet when the car in which they are riding goes over railroad tracks. Another person I know kisses their finger and touches it to the roof of her car if she goes through a yellow light. Another person always says a prayer when passing by a cemetery. Another always makes a wish when the numbers on clocks are double digits (like 11:11). And while witnessing these things, I always think to myself, "How weird is that?!?!" But it also gets me thinking about some of my quirks.

- I have to eat my Skittles in specific color combinations, two at a time (no more than two, no less than two). My favorite combo is one orange and one green, with one yellow and one purple a close runner-up.

- I have to build my hamburgers in a very specific order: bottom bun, mayo, meat, cheese, lettuce, tomato, ketchup, more mayo, top bun. In any other order it just doesn't taste right. But this is only when I have to make my own burger. I'm okay ordering a burger from a restaurant. It doesn't matter what order everything is in then. Oh, and I always eat it upside down.

- When eating a meal, I eat everything in pairs. For example, I have to get some peas with my forkful of rice, or I have to get some mashed potatoes with my bite of meat. I always mix my food together like that and I hardly ever eat one item at a time.

- When opening up the programs on my computer, they have to be opened in a certain order so that they appear on my task bar in a certain order. If they are not in the correct order, or if I have to close one program (thus rendering them in the wrong order), I have to close all the programs and start over to make sure they are in the correct order.

- I get ready in the same exact order every morning, to include my shower routine: get up, use the bathroom, turn on the shower, brush my teeth, get in the shower, shampoo my hair, rinse my hair, wash my face, condition my hair, wash/shave (washing my body in a certain order: left arm, then right arm, etc.), rinse, dry off (taking care to dry off my body in a certain order), etc. etc. etc. I think if someone were to witness my routine every morning they would suspect I was a robot.

- When someone says "supposably", it makes my eyes bleed. You just don't understand how annoying that is.

- When I set my table at dinnertime (wow, another food quirk), the food has to be in a certain order, with the meat toward the end of the table that is closest to the kitchen, then the potatoes/rice/pasta, then the veggies, then the bread. Always.

- In order to fall asleep, I HAVE to have a blanket/sheet/comforter on top of me, at least on part of my body, even if it only covers my leg or my mid-section. I CANNOT fall asleep without a cover.

- I also cannot have any part of my body dangling over the edge of my bed. This probably stems from my childhood fear of monsters under the bed.

I totally can't believe I admitted all that. Now that I have successfully convinced you guys that I am certifiably insane (well, some of you already knew that), why don't you create a post about your quirks (or at least leave me a comment with some of them so I know that I'm not completely alone in my insanity).

A Redneck Adventure

2009-01-04T09:47:00.004-05:00

Being married to a southern boy is definitely an adventure...to say the least. At any given moment, I will have to deal with any number of the following:

- deer antlers
- camouflage clothing (sometimes bloody, gross I know)
- guns (which are safely locked away in our gun cabinet, just FYI for those who may be wondering)
- ammunition
- muddy boots
- the hunting channel (which has completely brain-washed my child, who now, at the sight of ANY animal, points and say "pow, pow, pow")
- mud-bogging

Ah, mud-bogging. A very exciting pasttime of ours. For those who don't know, mud-bogging is the act of taking a perfectly good truck and driving it through a large, disgusting, muddy hole for no reason but to see if it will go through. Believe it or not, it's actually pretty fun.

Donnie and I (and Ryan) were at a little cookout with some friends last night. If you have ever been to a "redneck cookout" you know that it doesn't take long for the testosterone-filled dares to start getting thrown around. You know, my truck's better than yours, blah, blah, blah. Yep, redneck cookouts usually end up in a mud-bogging expedition.

It wasn't too much later we were all parked on a hill overlooking a huge, disgusting mud hole. Thankfully, my husband has learned his lesson from years of mud-bogging (either that or he didn't want to ruin his very fresh wax-job), but he decided we would just watch instead of participating.

We hopped out of the truck and walked a little closer to the muddy pit before I realized that if I was going to stand there, I better be prepared to get covered in mud. I promptly turned around and decided that Ryan and I would wait in the truck. Donnie decided to trudge a little further, video camera in tow, to get to a better vantage point.

One, two, three trucks make it through the large gooey mud-pit and decide to keep going on to the next, even larger, gooey-er mud-pit. From where I was sitting, I can see that Donnie has jumped into one of the trucks to enjoy the ride.

Ryan and I sat back with the rest of the wives and kids to watch and wait for them to come back.

The brake lights of the trucks get farther and farther away, until we noticed that they stopped moving altogether.

We wait. And we wait. And we wait.

Guess who was still waiting at 1:30 in the morning? No, really. Guess. Yep, a very tired ME and my passed out child.

The other wives and children were also getting anxious and ready to get home when we see a pair of lights start heading our way. Funny, the pair of lights disappeared for a moment, which we quickly figured out was because the truck was completely engulfed in muddy water.

Once the truck made it to us, my brother-in-law, Andy, jumps out. Andy informs me that the trucks are really stuck (as in a wench couldn't even help pull them out) and that my husband has decided to stay back to help. So Andy graciously offered to drive me and Ryan home (being as though we were in the middle of NOWHERE and I had no clue how to get home).

So, Ryan and I arrive home at approximately 2:00 a.m. Exhausted, I pass out immediately.

I awoke to the sound of my husband entering our house at 5:00 a.m. who arrives with my broken video camera.

So that's when I killed him.

My New Years' Blog-olutions

2009-01-01T12:04:00.001-05:00

I have several Blog-olutions for the New Year:

1. I resolve to re-vamp my blog. I think it's getting pretty boring. I'm going to re-do the whole thing . . . I think. Hmmm, maybe a new title. I'll have to think of a new one. (I'll also take suggestions. *hint hint*)

2. I resolve to blog more. Lately, I have been slacking. I admit it. I guess that's the first step toward overcoming this problem.

3. I resolve to blog more about my day-to-day life, instead of just blogging on special occasions and such. Believe it or not, my day-to-day life can be pretty funny at times.

4. I resolve to take more pictures. As if I don't take enough. Actually, I really don't take enough, in my opinion. I bought new batteries for my camera so I will actually be able to accomplish this one.

I'm sure I'll think of more but for now, those are my New Years' Blog-olutions.

Christmas!

2008-12-25T14:57:00.001-05:00

Christmas was wonderful!! In the weeks leading up to Christmas, I heard so much talk about people cutting back on Christmas this year because of the current state of the economy. ::eye roll:: Hey, the way I look at it, wouldn't cutting back on Christmas just put the economy in an even worse condition??

Here's our tree on Christmas morning. Ignore the computer desk behind the tree. We had to move our tree from its usual location due to a certain dog that shall remain unnamed (but it wasn't Lexi) knocking over our tree trying to gain access to the window. I got sick of setting the tree back up and fixing all of the ornaments so the tree had to find a new home.

Here's a picture of Ryan casually emptying the contents of his stocking (which was as big as he was. Seriously. You can see it in the picture above - the red stocking in front of all the gifts. Huge.) He was very non-chalant on Christmas morning, just taking his time opening everything up. It was actually very nice because it made Christmas last longer for us!

And here's a picture of Ryan ripping into one of his many, many gifts. He seriously got way too much stuff. But it was worth it.

In an effort to out-do myself from last Christmas (when I bought Donnie his XBox 360), I also went WAY overboard on my hubby. In addition to his Under Armour Sweatshirt, Guitar Hero Legends of Rock, and all his other cool things I got him, I also bought him (okay, us) tickets to UFC Fight Night in Tampa, Florida. We are sooo excited about this. We are addicted to UFC and usually end up ordering the pay-per-view fights, as they are normally taking place in Las Vegas. This is the first time one of the fights will be thisclose to us so I just couldn't pass up the opportunity of going. Donnie was beyond surprised (and thrilled)! So, mission accomplished.

And of course, I got lots of wonderful presents myself. My hubby did a great job of picking out a Willow Tree figure for me and a new Calphalon Skillet (yes, I was actually VERY excited over this - I was in desperate need of a new one). I also received Bath & Body Works' lotions, PJs, a scrapbook, some board games, clothes, a new Vera Bradley purse (monogrammed too!), etc.

I hope everyone else had a wonderful Christmas as well!!

Office Christmas Party

2008-12-18T14:49:00.002-05:00

Donnie and I went to my office's Christmas Party this party Saturday. Today at work, I received an email attaching a picture that was taken of us. I couldn't stop laughing at how goofy we look (especially the look on Donnie's face: PRICELESS)!!

If nothing else, I hope this brought a smile to some faces today!

Then And Now - Christmas Style

2008-12-15T11:48:00.001-05:00

So we finally put up our Christmas Tree last weekend (yes, laaast weekend, not this past weekend - I am just that far behind on my blog - life got in the way, I guess). I found a Christmas throw blanket and decided to recreate some photos from last year. Didn't really go quite as planned but they turned out cute and you can really see how much Ryan has grown in the past year.

This year:

Last year:

What's The Big Deal?

2008-12-04T12:44:00.000-05:00

Quite frankly, I don't see anything wrong with child labor.....

Happy Thanksgiving!!

2008-11-27T12:24:00.008-05:00

We traveled to Jeffrey and Elisabeth's house for Thanksgiving and we had so much fun! The food was wonderful (of course!) and we got to spend some time with Jeffrey and Elisabeth! It's hard to believe we haven't seen Jeffrey since April!

Jeffrey, Dad and Donnie deep-frying the turkey

Jeremy and Ryan ~~hungrily~~ patiently waiting for the turkey to finish cooking

This is his "mommy-are-you-going-to-stop-taking-pictures-and-feed-me?" face

The food!

Ryan and Aunt Elisabeth

Uncle Jeffrey, Ryan and Aunt Elisabeth

Visit with Jeff and Elisabeth at the Zoo

2008-11-15T13:52:00.001-05:00

I'm so sad that this picture came out blurry!!

Ryan LOVES the carousel. Everytime it would stop,

he would cry, so we would have to ride it again.

He had sooo much fun chasing the penguins as they swam back in forth.

Yet Another Blog

2008-11-09T08:59:00.000-05:00

Some of you may notice that I removed all things political from my blog. I understand that people are coming to my blog to get their Ryan-fix, not read about my political POV.

However, for those that enjoy hearing my thoughts regarding politics, I have created a new blog and moved all the political posts from this blog to the new blog. If you would like to read it, click here. Enjoy!

Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil

2008-11-06T09:11:00.002-05:00

Happy Halloween!!!

2008-10-31T10:57:00.000-04:00

Ryan was the cutest dragon I've ever seen!

And here's a very scary costume....

19 Months Old

2008-10-27T09:43:00.000-04:00

It's hard to believe Ryan is officially past the year-and-a-half mark. My baby is growing up. I found a list of milestones for 18-24 month olds. So I will mark this occasion by seeing which milestones he has hit.

Play & Cognitive Skills
- Pretends to play musical instruments (Pretends? Uh, no. This kid actually plays musical instruments....like xylophone, Grandpa's drums, etc.)
- Dances (Like a wild child. I think dancing is his favorite thing.)
- Uses two toys together and play becomes more complicated (Oh, yeah. He's been doing this for a while.)
- Pushes a stroller or shopping cart (He's been doing this for almost a year now.)
- Stacks and assembles toys and objects (Check.)
- Matches sounds of animals to pictures (Definitely. He also knows TONS of animal sounds. The animal sounds he can do are for the following: cow, horse, giraffe, zebra, dog, kitty, skunk, lizard, turkey, deer, chicken, elephant...um, I think that might be it.)
- Recognizes self and family in pictures (Oh, yes. He loves looking at pictures and I'll ask him where people are and he'll point to each person.)

Language & Speech Skills
- Imitates two and three words phrases (Yes, finally. He can say, "Bye-Bye", "Bless You", "I Love You", "Thank you", "Excuse Me" etc.)
- Requests toys or food with words and gestures (Yes.)
- Names pictures (He tries.)
- Says two word phrases (i.e. more cracker, daddy home) (He tries. It's still kind of in his own little language.)
- Says some three word phrases (I think the only three word phrase he knows is "I Love You")
- Says own name (Not yet.)
- Says at least 50 words (I'm not sure. I haven't counted. I don't think it's quite 50, yet.)
- Speech is about 50% understandable to parent (Yes.)
- Answers questions (Yes)
- Uses appropriate eye contact (Yes.)
- Uses words like: My, A, That, The, Where, What, and uses variety of verbs (Some.)

Fine & Gross Motor Skills
- Kneels and stands up (He's been doing this for several months.)
- Puts large pieces on a puzzle board (Yes.)
- Stacks 4-5 blocks (Yes. And then he destroys it.)
- Can draw a line (Yes.)
- Pushes a small tricycle (Yes and he can just about ride it by himself, too.)
- Unzips clothes (Yes, and he can also zip up his own jacket.)
- Helps put on socks and shoes (Yes, and he also helps put on his pants and shirt.)

Other Skills
- Uses playdough and paints (I'm slack. He hasn't been introduced to playdough or paint yet.)
- Pastes on one side of paper (Same as above.)
- Paints on paper (Same as above.)
- Enjoys rhymes and fingerplays (He loves rhymes! He can do the finger movements for Patty-Cake and Itsy-Bitsy-Spider.)
- Matches an object to a picture (Yes.)
- Remembers where objects belong (Yes. This actually blew my mind when he started doing this. He hangs his jacket up where it belongs, puts his shoes where they belong, if he sees trash he throws it away without us prompting him to, picks up his toys and puts them away, he goes and gets a diaper when he needs it, when he's done with his cup of milk and there's still milk in it he puts it in the fridge, etc. etc. etc.)

Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-18T12:22:00.001-04:00

We took Ryan to a pumpkin patch today and we actually had a lot of fun!

He doesn't look too thrilled about this though:Grandma helping Ryan feed the goats...

He liked the baby goat the most.

Looking for the perfect pumpkin....

On a hayride!

He loved the pony!
He was even brave enough to pet it.

Our first ever horse ride!

Grandpa pushing Ryan at the "Haytona Speedway".

Ryan even made his way through the hay maze,

with just a teeny bit of help from Grandma.

My big boy! (Notice the duck he crammed in his pocket.)

The Zoo! Part I - The Animals

2008-10-11T13:04:00.008-04:00

We met up with Elisabeth and we took Ryan on his first trip to the zoo! He loved it and we all had SO much fun. I took almost 500 pictures!! But of course, I won't post them all here - just a few of my favorites. Enjoy!

The baby lions were so adorable!

Absolutely beautiful.

The bears were so big and beautiful. Although this one seemed to be stalking us! He made me a little nervous.....

Ryan saw the carousel and headed straight for it so of course we had to ride it...

These Siamangs were definitely the highlight of my day!

Ryan seemed to be mesmerized by the Meerkats...

She looks like she's smiling!

Of course we rode the train. And of course we weren't too big for it...

Ryan was absolutely fascinated with the animal statues:

The Zoo! Part II - Birds, Snakes, etc.

2008-10-11T12:00:00.001-04:00

Flamingos!

Here's Ryan climbing up to get a better peek at the birds. He kept saying "Wow"!
Ryan really enjoyed watching the penguins.

This was one HUGE turtle. I even got a neat video of the turtle walking up to Ryan.

He was fascinated!

And I really think the fish were the highlight of Ryan's trip! He couldn't stop staring at the fish and every time we tried to leave, we would have to drag him away from the fish tanks!
Piranhas!

You can see the crocodile's snout by Ryan's hand.Yuck!
Neat frogs!

I love this picture of the sea turtle!

The Zoo! Part III - The Garden

2008-10-11T09:41:00.002-04:00

Part III of the series is obviously not as exciting as the others, but the Garden at the Zoo was so beautiful I just couldn't stop taking pictures. We walked across this long bridge and walked up into the garden.

The view from the bridge...

The Garden.

The walk to the garden was enough exercise for us! We rode the tram back into the zoo.

(My brother, me and my sister-in-law)

After the Zoo

2008-10-11T08:00:00.002-04:00

Ryan with his souvenirs.

We stopped to get Starbucks after the zoo and Ryan was just being too cute.

Messy Boy

2008-10-10T10:39:00.000-04:00

Ryan LOVES to play with his food. Especially mashed potatoes. I actually grabbed my camera so I could take a picture of Inga who was covered in mashed potato polka-dots (courtesy of Ryan) but by the time I grabbed my camera, Inga had eaten all of the potato-dots. Oh, well. I did get some cute ones of Ryan though....

All Clean!

103.8

2008-10-08T08:51:00.011-04:00

103.8

No, that's not my favorite radio station. That is how high Ryan's fever got last night - twice.

Which is why I am currently sitting in the doctor's office. I decided to just take Ryan to our family doctor instead of driving almost an hour to the pediatrician. I forgot how looooong the wait is here compared to the pediatricians office.

So I'm sitting here, bored, basically observing people. You've got the elderly men sitting in the corner talking politics, there's an elderly lady who is obviously completely unaware she is still wearing her slippers and, of course, any time someone walks by Ryan, they gush over how "cute" he is, how big his blue eyes are or what a "big boy" he is.

Anywho, I'm convinced Ryan has an ear infection as he still has a fever and he's been tugging at his right ear. Otherwise, he is acting completely fine, playing and dancing, yes - here in the waiting room.

Hhmmm, we are working on minute 50 since we got here and we are only one person closer to seeing Dr. W. There are still 5 people ahead of us. Ugh.

After approximately 4 tries Ryan finally worked up the courage to walk all the way across the waiting room to pick out a couple books. No biggie, you say? Actually that's a pretty big accomplishment for someone who is normally extremely shy around strangers and won't leave mommy's side/lap.

75 minutes in and they just called someone else back. Oh, there goes another one. Three to go.

Ryan is now acting completely normal, jumping on my lap, giving me kisses and playing.

(This long pause is due to the fact that Ryan got restless so I had to give him my phone so he could watch Backyardigans. Have I ever mentioned how much I love my phone?)

Now 110 minutes in and we have finally been called back. His temp is now down to 101.3 and they are totally bribing my kid with a balloon. And it totally worked. Oh yeah - he knows what his priorities are.

Doctor spends 20 minutes chatting with us about politics and abortion (I heart Dr. W. and his views on abortion!) and then spends about 10 minutes checking out Ryan. (Can't help but thinking if Dr. W. does this with every patient, no wonder the wait was so long.)

Diagnosis: Bad ear infection. Poor Boogie! So off the Doc sends us with a 'script for Amoxicillin and strict orders to "get that baby better!" Like I would do anything less?

During this whole trip though I couldn't help but notice the huge difference when children are sick vs. when adults are sick. Ryan's temperature was almost up to 104 and he was only a little whiny. His fever never got below 101.6 last night, but even then he was playing and acting silly as usual. And today, the doctor said his ear was really red so you know he was in pain.

Had that been an adult though, especially an adult male, there would have been a heck of a lot of lying around, moaning and groaning, "oh, I'm dyyyying". But other than waking up a couple of times last night and being a little clingy, he seems pretty fine. It's amazing what little kids can handle.

That's My Boy!!

2008-10-06T22:04:00.002-04:00

WARNING: POSSIBLE TMI AHEAD.

As you guys probably know, we are kinda sorta potty-training Ryan. Not hardcore training - just going with the flow. You know, letting Ryan tell us when he's gotta go, and then we put him on the potty and hope for a good outcome. (No pun intended.). If he lets us know and he sits on the potty, he gets rewarded with a sticker from his sticker bowl. He has done very well although he hasn't actually used the potty yet. Well, not until tonight.

Being the ever-observant mother that I am (read: I have nothing better to do than watch for Ryan's potty cues), I noticed Ryan doing a little grunting after supper tonight. So I asked Ryan "Do you have to go potty?". And he nodded rather enthusiastically. Sensing a very small window of opportunity here, I picked Ryan up and made a mad dash to the bathroom, hastily stripping off his clothes from the waist down. I plopped him on the potty and within mere moments, he did this:

What? You didn't actually think I would post a picture of it did you? Not that I would even TAKE a picture of that. Okay, actually I did (come on, I take pictures of everything). But I'm not going to post it.
I am very proud of my big boy! And Ryan was very proud of himself too! He kept pointing and smiling and even waved "bye-bye" when he flushed. He truly is growing up way too fast.

What a Difference a Year Makes

2008-10-05T08:50:00.004-04:00

As I was watching Ryan playing this weekend, it struck me (like a ton of bricks right in the face) how fast Ryan is growing up. I keep thinking to myself, "This isn't fair! No one else's kids grow up this fast!!" Maybe that's all in my head but Ryan has changed so much in just a matter of a year. I decided to get down on "paper" all the differences in Ryan over the last year.

Weight:

6 Months: 19 lbs (75th percentile)

Now: 26 lbs 13 oz (70th percentile)

Height:

Then: 27 in. (75th percentile)

Now: 34 1/2 in. (95th percentile)

Shoes:

Then: Size 3

Now: Size 7

Clothing:

Then: Size 6 -9 months

Now: Size 18-24 months (he wears them for the length but they totally swallow him.) He can still wear his size 6-9 month shorts though. He's my tall string bean!

Mobility:

Then: "Army Crawling" everywhere!

Now: Has mastered walking, running, climbing, is working on jumping, can walk up and down steps (without help!), and opens doors

Verbal:

Then: No words, just babble

Now: A handful of words plus tons of animal sounds (Even though he doesn't "talk" much, he communicates very well!)

Drinking:

Then: Bottle and just learned how to use a sippy cup. Up until a month ago, formula and breastmilk. Now formula only (and occasionally water).

Now: Weaned himself from the bottle at 11 months, has mastered a sippy cup and also uses a regular cup. Has been off of formula for 7 months. Drinks whole milk, lots of water, and a teeny bit of juice (watered down of course).

Food:

Then: Baby food only, fed by Momma. Has had baby cereal, some fruits and some veggies. Will also feed himself Gerber Puffs.

Now: Eats everthing. He's our little garbage disposal. Has mastered the use of a fork and spoon.

Manners:

Then: None whatsoever.

Now: Says "Thank you" in his own little way and "apologizes" - if he's bad, he'll give you a hug and a kiss.

Potty:

Then: Diapers, lots of diapers.

Now: He WANTS to use the potty. Lets me know he's got to "go" and then runs to the bathroom, puts his potty chair on the big potty and climbs on up. (Pediatrician said he'll be completely potty-trained by 2 years old! Lucky me! And to think I am not even actively training him!)

-------------------------------

Of course, there are a lot more differences but those are some of the more obvious ones. I've also posted a couple comparison photos as Ryan has also changed his looks alot over the past year:

6 Months:

18 Months:

I just can't believe how fast time flies. But I've got to say, the age Ryan is now is my favorite by far. (I know I say that at every age, but he's just so much fun!!) Ryan is a true source of entertainment for Donnie and I. Ryan makes us laugh so much and definitely keeps us on our toes. Now if he would just slow down with this whole growing-up thing....

18 Month Check-Up

2008-10-01T12:04:00.003-04:00

Ryan had his 18 month check-up today. Pretty uneventful. He now weights 26 pounds 13 ounces (70th percentile) and is 34 1/2 inches tall (95th percentile). The doctor said Ryan is going to be extremely tall. I voiced a little concern over the fact that Ryan only says a handful of words. But the doctor didn't seem worried at all: he said Ryan's comprehension skills are very advanced and boys also tend to talk a little later than girls do, so it's no concern at the moment. He said if it would make me feel better, to wait a month and see if he's saying more words. If he is, then great. If he's not, then they would do a speech evaluation. Just so happens that Ryan learned a new word after we left the pediatrician's office ("Bye-Bye"). Figures. Oh, and Ryan didn't have to get any shots today! Yay!!

Ryan's Unique Dancing Styles

2008-09-29T14:45:00.006-04:00

For anyone who knows Ryan at all, you know that this boy LOVES to dance. (Actually I think that may be an understatement.) He has been dancing since before he could walk - since he was about 7 or 8 months old. He has several different "moves" that he loves to show off, his favorite being the "Hiney Shake", the others include "Pat-My-Belly-And-Raise-My-Arm", "The Boogie Bounce" and "Let's Go In Circles". Virtually any sound that resembles a song can illicit dancing from Ryan. Even cell phone ringers have been known prompt Ryan to stop what he's doing and start dancing. Usually, Ryan dances in a silly, yet appropriate, 18-month-old way, to age-appropriate music, like "Backyardigans" songs, such as in this video:

But sometimes he really catches us off guard. As Donnie was flipping through the XM Channels on TV tonight, a certain song surprisingly caught Ryan's attention.

Here is Ryan dancing, à la Mosh Pit Style:

101 Things You May Not Know About Me

2008-09-26T15:48:00.012-04:00

I shamelessly stole this idea from another blog. So sue me.

101 Things You May Not Know About Me.

1. I love to cook.

2. I can learn a foreign language pretty quickly. In school, I took Spanish, French and Latin.

3. I can type 120 words per minute.

4. I've lived in 7 states.

5. But I've visited, I think, 36 states and 7 countries.

6. I'm a military brat.

7. I can wiggle my ears.

8. I love art!

9. I especially love photography.

10. I've been a paralegal/legal assistant for almost 8 years.

11. Before that, I worked for a Florist.

12. I've lived in Alaska.

13. Contrary to popular belief, I did NOT live in an igloo (so please stop asking).

14. I've owned a cell phone since I was 16 years old.

15. If I leave my house without my phone, I HAVE to turn around and get it. I feel lost/naked/empty inside without it.

16. I am deathly afraid of spiders, bugs and snakes.

17. My thumbs are double-jointed.

18. I'm a middle child.

19. I have an older brother and a younger brother.

20. I wear size 10 shoes.

21. In my younger days, I thoroughly enjoyed climbing trees.

22. I was a tom-boy. Maybe I still am, a little.

23. However, my favorite color is pink.

24. It used to be purple.

25. Purple became boring to me. That's why I switched.

26. I can make my voice sound like Howie Mandel's "Bobby".

27. Ryan thinks my "Bobby" voice is hilarious.

28. I can flare my nostrils.

29. I love roller coasters.

30. I have a strong desire to go sky-diving.

31. But my fear of heights may stop me.

32. I LOATHE sweating.

33. I also hate all kinds of bodily functions. They gross me out.

34. In high school, I used to paint my finger nails every day to match my outfit.

35. At one point, I had over 200 different shades of nail polish.

36. I haven't painted my fingernails in YEARS.

37. But I love painting my toe nails.

38. I think feet are ugly without nail polish.

39. I have had TONS of stitches.

40. But I've never broken a bone. **knock on wood**

41. I've owned 4 different cars in 10 years.

42. I live for change.

43. But I'm extremely traditional.

44. I started dating my husband when I was only 15 years old.

45. We met after he left a rose in my mail box on Valentine's Day.

46. I had only moved to his town 2 weeks before that.

47. We lived 2 streets apart.

48. He is 2 years older than I am.

49. We dated nearly 7 years before he proposed to me.

50. We were only engaged for 7 months.

51. We found out that we were pregnant with Ryan the day before our 2nd anniversary.

52. This will probably gross some people out, but I kept the pregnancy tests!

53. I keep them in a plastic bag in Ryan's memory box.

54. I also kept Ryan's umbilical cord stump.

55. I tried to throw it away, but I just.couldn't.do.it.

56. It just felt wrong. Like I was throwing part of my son in the trash.

57. It is also kept in a little plastic bag - in the bottom corner of Ryan's memory box behind lots of stuff.

58. Ryan was breast-fed.

59. He ate ONLY breast milk for the first 5 weeks of his life.

60. It would've been longer if I didn't have to work.

61. It's virtually impossible to pump in a law firm.

62. I have a hard time understanding why people would choose not to breast feed.

63. Sadly, Ryan weaned himself from breastmilk at 5 months old.

64. After that, he drank only formula.

65. Until he weaned himself off of formula and the bottle at 11 months old.

66. I'm extremely pro-life.

67. But I do understand that abortions will never be banned.

68. That saddens me.

69. I have a hard time understanding why anyone wouldn't be pro-life.

70. And yes, I've heard all of the arguments. I still don't agree.

71. I sometimes have a hard time standing up for myself.

72. But I always stand up for what I believe in.

73. Sometimes it offends people.

74. I don't do that intentionally, it just happens.

75. I know TONS of useless trivia.

76. I've been told I should go on Jeopardy.

77. However, I would never do that.

78. I get very nervous talking in front of a large crowd.

79. However, I have been on TV before.

80. I was less than 3 hours old.

81. I've met a couple celebrities.

82. I was tear-gassed in Paris.

83. I LOVE driving.

84. I used to drive a van-full of flowers all over South Carolina.

85. It was on that route that I received my first speeding ticket.

86. From an Officer Flowers.

87. I thought the name connection was funny too.

88. Officer Flowers didn't.

89. I was once arrested by a chicken named "Cocky".

90. I have two tattoos.

91. One is on my ankle.

92. The other is completely hidden.

93. I'm completely addicted to my BlackBerry.

94. I think it's my favorite purchase of the year!

95. My next big purchase is going to be a digital SLR camera.

96. I think it will be my Christmas present to myself. We shall see.

97. I'm not sure what to get my husband for Christmas this year.

98. But I want to make sure I do even better than last year.

99. That will be hard because I completely surprised Donnie with an XBox 360.

100. I really love Christmas.

101. But my favorite holiday is Thanksgiving.

In Loving Memory

2008-09-25T09:20:00.011-04:00

Jayse Rentz passed away this morning. Please continue to pray for her family. I can't even wrap my mind around the unbearable grief they must be going through. Please hug your little ones a little tighter tonight, give them (100) extra kisses today (and every day), tell them "I love you" as often as possible, and just remember how blessed you are to spend each day with them.

This is a picture I stole from Jayse's Caring Bridge web page.

Her family was able to fulfill her dream of meeting a real princess.

Please Say a Prayer

2008-09-24T16:09:00.008-04:00

Please stop and take a moment today to say a prayer for Jayse Rentz and her family. Jayse is a 5-year-old little girl who was diagnosed with Leukemia. To read more about her, please visit http://www.caringbridge.org/, under website name “Elizabethrentz”.

Just A Swingin'

2008-09-22T08:17:00.004-04:00

Grandma and Uncle Jeremy took Ryan to the park today. He LOVES the swings!

I wish this picture wasn't blurry!! It would've been cute!

It's Here

2008-09-17T09:10:00.006-04:00

It's finally here. After months of longing. I'm so excited I can hardly contain myself. I could barely even sleep last night thinking about it coming in today.

My new phone! I was going to get the Pearl months ago but decided to wait and get the Curve now. I'm glad I waited. And yes, it's pink.

And yes, I know I'm a nerd.

The Scariest Moment Yet

2008-09-14T14:47:00.005-04:00

Donnie and I have come down with some sort of sinus infection so today we really didn't feel like doing anything other than laying around on the couch. Thank goodness Ryan is the type of child who really is content playing by himself or finding something to get into - we don't have to sit there and entertain him. As we were lying on the couch, we noticed Ryan had gotten awfully quiet. In the world of Ryan, if it's quiet, it usually means trouble. We both got up to investigate. Of course, the first place we checked was by the back window because that is usually where Ryan hangs out the most, watching the chickens and turkeys in the back yard. He wasn't there. My heart immediately started pumping because we really didn't know where else he would be (that was the last direction in which he was heading). Then we saw it: the back door was wide open! I have never been so scared in my life. My heart sank to my stomach as we both took off running to the open back door. Donnie got there first and turned around and smiled at me. I knew immediately everything was okay. I peeked out the back door and there was Ryan, sitting very peacefully on the top step of our back porch, watching the chickens and the turkeys. Oh, thank goodness he was okay!! It definitely took quite some time for the adrenalin to leave my system though. So Donnie went and grabbed some leftover pancakes from this morning and sat next to Ryan feeding the chickens.

We have definitely learned that we need to keep our doors locked. I had no clue Ryan figured out how to open the back door. He's been able to open the screen door for quite some time but I didn't know he could open a regular door yet. Ryan certainly knows how to keep surprising us. I have since been tryng my hardest to put a mental block on all the "what if's". I've convinced myself not to think about what could have happened to him, but I will continue to try my best to stay one step ahead of him.

Ryan vs. A Lemon

2008-09-11T11:26:00.003-04:00

I don't think any commentary is necessary. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves....

Monkey See, Monkey Do

2008-09-08T16:25:00.001-04:00

While doing my usual heavy-duty Sunday cleaning, I was vacuuming my couch cushions - you know, trying to remove the plethora of dog hair that couch collects. I *thought* I did a good job but evidently Ryan didn't think so. He ran to his bedroom, got his "vacuum" and proceeded to "vacuum" my couch all over again. He is such a good helper!

Watering the Garden

2008-09-06T16:20:00.003-04:00

Ryan loves helping out! Even when it comes to cleaning up messes, I give Ryan a towel and he wipes them right up. While Grandma was working in the yard, Ryan decided he wanted to help and started watering her flowers. Such a big boy!

My Sappy Post for the Week

2008-09-05T14:51:00.002-04:00

In surfing the internet looking for Hurricane Hanna updates, I saw this silly Love Compatability thing. It tests your compatability with your significant other using your Zodiac signs. I am such a sucker for these things.

So I enter mine (Cancer) and Donnie's (Virgo) signs into it and this is what it said about us:

This couple glows with a tranquil aura of harmony. Virgoan organizational skills reassure the anxious Crab, whereas the latter brings Virgo love and imagination. The devoted and dutiful Earth sign will never be wicked enough to push Cancer's buttons. The moonchild's moods are tolerated and coaxed back to less slippery terrain with patience and rationality, in the affectionate surroundings the Cancerian craves. Their life is orderly and calm, but never dull. They love each other simply, tenderly, and gracefully.

This is actually very true for us! Go ahead and try it!

Potty Time!

2008-09-01T14:13:00.001-04:00

Ryan's First Trip to the Beach

2008-08-30T14:16:00.001-04:00

Ryan loved the beach! He especially loved playing in the sand! He even loved swimming in the ocean. He was a little apprehensive about going in at first, but he quickly warmed up to it. He even tried to run in by himself a couple times!

You Gotta Be Tough to a Have a Little Boy

2008-08-18T12:23:00.001-04:00

I have slowly been realizing that to be a mother to a little boy, I am going to have to be tough. Especially being a mother to Ryan. Ryan is such a playful, adventurous, fearless little boy that he tends to put himself into situations that really test my nerves. Situations that I have a very hard time believing that an almost 17-month-old would ever even want to be in. I know I've blogged about his coffee table antics and his "glider-surfing" and even to this day I get nervous when he does those things. He also pushes the dining room chairs across to the fish tank so that he can climb up and see the fishies. And he pushes the chairs to the window in the dining room so he can look out the window comfortably. He's been doing this stuff for so long, shouldn't I be used to it by now?

I've also come to realize that being mommy to a little boy means that I am going to have to be tough enough to handle bumps, bruises and *gulp*, dare I say, even broken bones, stitches and blood. Unfortunately, Ryan has already had the bumps and bruises but now I have to add blood to the list. Yes, blood.

As Ryan is prone to do, he was running through the house just as happy as can be. He tripped and fell, landing flat on his face. Daddy got to him first and picked him up with his usual, "It's okay! You're a big boy!" but then he saw it. Blood. Pouring out of his mouth. I came running over and freaked out. My baby is not supposed to bleed!!!! Of course, I ran and got a wet paper towel and tried to soak up some of the blood. It was awful. It took a good 5 or so minutes to get the bleeding under control. I was just so certain he knocked out a tooth but he only ended up with a fat lip. My baby's first fat lip. Of course, within 10 minutes, Ryan was running through the house, all giggly and laughing again. I, however, am really going to have to try to be as tough as my 17-month-old. I was very close to tears, shaking, and I was still upset long after Ryan was all giggly again.

It's kind of hard to see it in these, but I tried to take pictures of my baby's very first fat lip. I think the 3rd picture is probably the best. But I promise, it looks must worse in person.

Can't I sit here and hope that this is the very worst thing my baby (and I) have to go through?

Becoming One With Nature

2008-08-08T23:36:00.000-04:00

Ryan loves the outdoors. I mean, really loves the outdoors. If Daddy goes outside, he has to go outside. And he loves animals! Every day, Ryan helps Daddy feed the dogs, the chickens and the turkeys.

In his quest to become "one with nature", Ryan stepped on a snake Monday. Of course, he didn't care.

Today, he discovered a toad. He was extremely fascinated at first but then became a little hesitant to go near it.

Then, we discovered this disgusting spider.
And here is Ryan sitting on the coffee table enjoying one of his new favorite things: watching the hunting channel.

He is acting like his Daddy more and more every day.

He Went a Little Too Far

2008-08-08T12:50:00.000-04:00

In his quest to become one with nature, I think he went just a little too far....

Ryan's Baptism

2008-08-03T15:48:00.000-04:00

My handsome boy patiently waiting for Mass to start....

Ryan did very well until the Deacon (my Uncle Brian) came near him.
Eh, I guess he wasn't too upset...

He really did not like this part!
Poor baby!

Our happy little family!
Uncle Andy (Godfather), Mommy, Uncle Brian, Daddy, Ryan, Aunt Laura (Godmother)
Mommies and babies!
Alex and Mary were having a very interesting conversation...

The three great-grandchildren

Mary was lovin' the camera and making faces at her mommy...

The Godparents with Ryan

Mimi and Papa with Ryan

Opening gifts...

Ryan, Mary and Bubbles!!

2008-08-02T12:11:00.000-04:00

The Ramblings of an Optimistic Mind

2008-08-01T12:11:00.006-04:00

I consider myself "the glass is half full" kind of girl. It takes a lot to make my mood gloomy. I was pondering over my somewhat rare personality trait this morning. I consider this trait "somewhat rare" because nowadays, I really don't know that many people who do all of the following:

- Wake up with a smile on your face - I admit, this one can be somewhat hard to accomplish but if you force a smile first thing in the morning, it kind of sticks and really sets the mood for the rest of your day. And because Ryan has taken to sleeping in our bed lately, this one is kind of easy for me.

- Sing in the shower every morning - Sure, a lot of people do sing in the shower, but for those of you who don't, DO IT. Not only are the acoustics fantastic in bathrooms, but singing bright and early in the morning is a good start for every day. (Unfortunately, here lately the song I have been singing in the shower is Madonna's True Blue. Very odd, because not only do I not really care for that particular song, but I don't think I've heard that song since, oh, sometime in the '80's. Also, I only know the chorus so those three or so lines have been sung over and over for a good 15-20 minutes every morning for the past week. I'm sure Donnie is very relieved that he leaves for work before my morning shower concerts. Oh, and I am currently accepting suggestions for a new song that can be stuck in my head - please, I'm begging you.....)

- Let your gas tank go a.l.m.o.s.t. empty - Okay...I'm not going to actually recommend doing this one but it's another one of those things that just don't bother me. I have yet to run completely out of gas *knock on wood* and I know that if that does actually happen, I know a couple people who might actually stop to help me.

- Don't stress over running late - I know you're not actually supposed to run late, but when I run late, I never let it bother me. I'm not one of those people who start freaking out when they are late. I'm one of those people who think that maybe, just maybe, I was supposed to be 2 minutes late because maybe, just maybe, that was the exact time it took for me to miss the accident that I could have been involved in.

- Don't fight with your husband - Again, I understand this one is not always easy and if you find you just have to fight, then make sure you pick your battles wisely. I don't think Donnie and I have fought at all since before we were married (officially four years, as of yesterday!). You can, however, have as many "discussions" as needed, and I can assure you, they will be needed.

- Dance often - Again, I'm not recommending this for just anybody and, in my case, definitely not recommended to do in front of audiences over the age of, well, talking age. Ryan has seen me "shake my hiney" enough times that he now goes around shaking his hiney. I've got to admit, it's a lot cuter when he does it.

- Laugh at yourself - This coming from someone who will readily admit to stapling her pointer fingers together......by accident. If you are clumsy enough to do that, then you darn well better have a sense of humor.

While these are just a handful of reasons why I feel I am an optimistic person, I've now probably convinced the world, okay...maybe just my few select loyal blog-readers, that I am, in fact, crazy. But it's okay...I'm happily crazy.

My Little Monkey

2008-07-31T17:50:00.000-04:00

It's no secret that Ryan loves to climb. He'll climb just about anything: tables, chairs, steps, onto beds, etc. It wasn't until today that Ryan learned he can climb into his highchair. And although it may be hard to tell in these pictures, his highchair is at the highest possible setting. So now I have to keep his tray on it to keep him from climbing into it.

Walking Up and Down the Steps

2008-07-29T12:08:00.001-04:00

Ryan has been able to do this for about a month or so now but I finally got pictures of him walking up and down the steps all by himself. It's so cute because he'll go all the way down and sit on the bottom step all by himself. He's getting to be such a big boy!

Silly Boy

2008-07-27T11:14:00.001-04:00

Trying to eat the balloon....

Hammin' it up for the camera....

Hiding....

"Where's your teeth?"

Daddy's New Bow

2008-07-26T11:19:00.003-04:00

Donnie bought a new bow last week and did a little target practice in the yard.

To keep Ryan safe, we put him in Daddy's truck. Hmmm....there's a new idea for Jeff Foxworthy: You might be a redneck if you use a Dodge Ram as a playpen. Oh, well. Ryan seemed to enjoy it.

Ryan started plundering, as usual, and found tons of new "toys"! Coins, carmex, Mt. Dew cans, old Cheetos, etc. Daddy trying to get the "toys" away from Ryan.Ryan decided to throw everything out of the window.Well, I guess he threw everything out except for the "old" Cheetos.... Gross!
Looking back at Daddy and Uncle Andy.

I Knew That Was Going to Happen

2008-07-25T11:15:00.004-04:00

"Duh" Moments....you know, those moments you have right after something happened and all you can think is "Duh." With Ryan, I have those moments all.the.time. Here are just two examples:

Ryan has a huge fascination with the dogs' water dish. Basically, Ryan either likes to play in it or put odd objects into it. Just the other day, while I was walking out of the kitchen, I passed Ryan walking into the kitchen will my keys in his hand. The thought that I should take the keys away from him passed very quickly in and out of my head. Moments later, I heard the jingle of keys and the splash of water. Now my keyless-entry doesn't work. DUH!!!!

And just this morning, Ryan was sleeping in our bed. When it was time to start getting Ryan ready to leave, I grabbed a fresh diaper and went to my room to change Ryan. I pulled off his pajama pants and took off his diaper. I noticed his bum was just a tad bit pink so I left a diaper-less 16-month-old on my bed while I ran to get the diaper rash cream. So imagine my non-surprise when I returned to a huge puddle on my bed. DUH!!!!

Ridin' in Daddy's Truck

2008-07-22T12:35:00.001-04:00

Ryan never gets to go for a ride in Daddy's truck (it's just so much easier to go in my car), so Donnie and I decided to take Ryan for a ride to the hunting club. Ryan loved sitting up front with us and he loved sitting so close to the window. He was even able to reach out and *almost* put his hand out the window. He loved feeling the wind on his hand. We were hoping Ryan would be able to see a deer but the only one Donnie and I saw ran away before Ryan could see it. Oh, well. Maybe next time.

Clapping...

Feeling the wind....

Smiling at Daddy....

Lawn Mower

2008-07-20T09:04:00.000-04:00

We were taking a walk around our yard when Ryan spotted the lawn mower. He immediately ran over to it and climb onto it. He even tried to turn the key. Too cute!

Riding on the Lawn Mower!

2008-07-11T13:57:00.001-04:00

Ryan had a lot of fun cutting the grass with Daddy....

15 Month Check-Up

2008-07-09T14:59:00.007-04:00

Ryan had a check-up today and everything went very well. Ryan now weighs 25 lbs 6 oz (which is still in the 75th percentile) and he is now 33 1/4 inches tall! His height has jumped from the 90th percentile to the 95th percentile! He's SO tall. We went over the words he can say now (and he's right on target for that), we went over his comprehension skills and evidently he's ahead of schedule for that. She was amazed at all the body parts Ryan can point to now (14 different ones). Ryan HATED having his ears and mouth checked, which he has never had a problem with before. And then, of course, we all hated when he got his shots but he did really well with those as well (even though he had to get one in the arm and one in each leg).

Also, I was told to hold off on introducing peanuts to Ryan for a little while longer. At least until sometime after his 2nd birthday. Peanut allergies are one of the most serious (and deadly) allergies a child could have. Even though you may give a child peanuts for the first time and not have a reaction, his body could then become allergic just from the early introduction. Click here and here for more info.

Coloring with Grandpa

2008-07-07T12:40:00.001-04:00

Here's Grandpa coloring with Ryan:

Ryan decides to see what flavor crayon he has:

Apparently it doesn't taste very good:
Ryan likes to color with ALL the crayons at the same time: And then he ran away with the crayons:

All Mine!

Photo Session with Brooke

2008-07-04T12:27:00.001-04:00

Check out my photography blog to see a sneak peek of Brooke's photo shoot. Let me know what you think!

Molars

2008-07-02T11:51:00.001-04:00

Two of Ryan's top molars (one on each side) came through at the same time this past weekend. Ryan now has 12 chompers.

Just Peachy!

2008-07-01T11:57:00.000-04:00

Ryan just loves peaches!

The Many Faces of Ryan - Part Three

2008-06-30T10:28:00.002-04:00

The Many Faces of Ryan

The Many Faces of Ryan - Part Two.

A Little Update

2008-06-24T12:17:00.006-04:00

Sickness has run wild through our household again. Ryan and I are both sick. I have a sinus infection that the doctor says looks like it could be going into bronchitis. So I got a shot and an antibiotic prescription. Ryan also has a sinus infection and his FIRST EVER ear infection. The doctor says it's VERY mild but she prescribed antibiotics. He's never even been on antibiotics before. He was supposed to have his 15-month check-up tomorrow but we are postponing it for 2 weeks to make sure he is better before he receives more vaccines.

Tooth Number 10

2008-06-15T16:01:00.000-04:00

Ryan's tenth tooth came through today. Tylenol and Baby Orajel just wasn't cutting it so this is what Ryan gets to ease the pain: an ice pop!

Is It Just Me?

2008-06-15T15:22:00.000-04:00

Or is there something strangely disturbing about this photo?

Ryan Being Ryan

2008-06-14T15:49:00.000-04:00

Here are some cute pictures of Ryan being silly...

Fake coughing:

Our Pool

2008-06-14T15:06:00.000-04:00

With as hot as it has been lately, we decided we needed a pool. We love it! Ryan was a little apprehensive for the first few minutes the first time he was in it, but he soon warmed up to it and when we put him in his turtle float, he would kick his little feet and push himself (slowly) around the pool! So cute!

Our pool:

Donnie making sure the pool is nice and clean for us:

Ryan thoroughly enjoying himself:
Kisses for mommy!
Ryan in his turtle float:

More Teefers!

2008-06-13T13:35:00.001-04:00

Ryan didn't sleep so well last night. Well, I guess that's kind of an understatement seeing as though he woke up at 2:30 and didn't go back to sleep until 5:30. I was so worried he was getting sick again because he would lay there quietly, but awake, and then suddenly start crying.

Well, when I dropped Ryan off this morning so I could go to work, I decided to check his gums and sure enough: TWO more teeth poked through last night. Poor thing was in pain! If I had known, I would have given him tylenol. Poor baby! That brings Ryan's grand total of teefers to NINE.

Bad Grandma!

2008-06-12T11:00:00.001-04:00

Grandma got to watch Ryan today for the first time since he has been feeling better and she let him have a powdered donut. I guess I'll let this one slide seeing as though it made Ryan smile like this:

Sick

2008-06-12T10:25:00.001-04:00

What is the saying? A family that lives together, gets sick together? Yep, I think that's right....

Well, that's what happened anyway. Ryan came down with an awful stomach virus Friday morning (June 6). Poor little thing seemed okay, just a little pale and clingy. But I gave him lots of Pedialyte (which, by the way, he LOVED) and when he wasn't actually throwing up, he was running around playing. But then I started getting sick around 5:00 pm on Saturday and by 9:00 pm, I was in the emergency room. Unfortunately, I was severely dehydrated and my potassium level had bottomed out. I had to get an IV, two doses of Phenergan and a dose of Zofran and then I finally stopped getting sick. I also had to get potassium in my IV and it was h.o.r.r.i.b.l.e. I just couldn't handle it so they stopped giving it to me through my IV and made me drink it. Anywho, by 2:00 a.m. Sunday morning, they let me go home. I still wasn't much better (other than I had stopped throwing up) and around 5:00 a.m. when I got up to use the bathroom, I actually passed out in the hallway. And then by the time Donnie got home from work on Monday, he was sick with it too! But today, we are all feeling better (thank goodness).

Here's a picture of my sick men sleeping on the couch:

And, yes, there is a reason why there isn't a picture of sick Jessica.....I just couldn't subject the world (or at least my loyal blogfans) to that horrendous sight.

Baby Monitor

2008-06-03T09:57:00.004-04:00

I, along with a lot of other mothers in this country, own a set of baby monitors. They are actually a huge blessing, although I was never able to really use them until Ryan was approximately 4 months old. Before that time, he slept exclusively in mine and Donnie's bedroom, either in a bassinet, a pack-n-play (when he outgrew the bassinet) or in our bed. Moving Ryan into his nursery at 4 months old was rather heartbreaking and nerve-wracking, in large part due to the fact that his room is all the way on the other end of the house from mine and Donnie's bedroom. The baby monitor was a life saver. I turned that sucker up so loud for the first several weeks that I could hear Ryan breathing. It was wonderful. Every little noise Ryan made was broadcasted across my bedroom and at the first sound of a cry, I would quickly get up and run across the house to fix whatever caused Ryan to fuss (usually a lost pacifier). As time moved on, I was able to turn down the monitor enough where I would only hear if Ryan began to move around in his crib or when he would fuss/cry.

It has been approximately 10 months since first implimenting usage of the baby monitors. They have become such a normal part of my day/life that sometimes I don't even notice I have them. Some nights, the baby monitor sort of works its way into my dreams....you know, I'll dream I'm hearing a baby cry, but then I wake up and Ryan's crying. We have gotten a lot of use out of these baby monitors though, especially lately. Ryan is teething pretty badly and when Ryan's teething, Ryan doesn't sleep. When Ryan doesn't sleep, mommy doesn't sleep. Needless to say, I've been kind of tired lately. I am not complaining though. Really I'm not. I secretly (well, not so secretly now) enjoy spending an occassional sleepless hour (or two or three) during the night with Ryan. I bring him to bed with Donnie and I, and Ryan snuggles up in between us. It's comfy and I love the feeling of holding Ryan. (That is until he starts sweating profusely and I immediately pick up him and take him back to his bed. He is SO hot-natured.) Anywho....

This morning, however, maybe the lack of sleep was starting to get to me....I'm not sure. But when the sounds of Ryan fussing came over the baby monitor this morning, instead of jumping up to check on Ryan, I, very groggily, reached up and repeatedly hit the snooze button on my alarm clock. I guess it goes without saying that when the "Ryan alarm" goes off in the morning, no amount of pushing buttons on my alarm clock puts him back to sleep.

Haircut Number Two

2008-06-02T09:51:00.002-04:00

Ryan really did not like getting his haircut.....

My poor baby!! This was torture!
So, of course, after he was done we had to reward him with a lolipop!!
All better!!

Dirty!

2008-06-01T09:27:00.001-04:00

This is what my son looks like after he spends time in the yard with Daddy. Like father, like son.

A Little Sentimental

2008-05-29T09:46:00.001-04:00

While Donnie was working today, he ran across an old CD of ours and listened to a song that he hadn't heard in quite some time. When he came home, he played the song for me. It's the song With Arms Wide Open by Creed. He said now that we have Ryan, that song takes on a whole new meaning for him. I agree. Check it out - I'm sure you haven't heard it in quite some time either.

He Clips his Own Toenails!

2008-05-28T09:43:00.000-04:00

Hey, Chick!

2008-05-28T09:31:00.000-04:00

This is how Ryan plays with his little wind-up chicken....

My Little Dare Devil

2008-05-27T11:18:00.006-04:00

Ryan has always proven himself to be a very brave and adventurous little boy. During his early days, he constantly wanted to roll off furniture. Other than the one time he rolled of the bed (at 1:23 a.m. on June 23, 2007), I was usually able to stop or catch him. He even crawled early which I blame on his adventurous side. He loves to explore and even at 6 months old, could not stand the thought of being immobile.

At about 9 months old, he started what I like to think of as his favorite hobby. That's when he figured out how to climb onto our couch. However, right after learning to climb onto the couch, he learned how to walk which was an absolutely wonderful new talent for Ryan. Walking really fed into his adventurous and curious side and he began exploring every inch of my house. However, after my house became boring, again, Ryan turned back to climbing. Back to the couch he went. Then, it wasn't so bad as Ryan would just climb onto the couch and crawl around on it. Climbing the couch became a huge source of fun for Ryan. This actually entertained Ryan for quite some time and the fact that he knew how to climb off of the couch made it much easier on me. I never worried about Ryan climbing onto the couch. He was very good at climbing onto it, crawling around on it and climbing off of it.

It didn't take long until Ryan learned that he could stand on the couch and that was oh, so much more fun than crawling. And the look on his face when he would climb onto the couch and stand up, usually holding on to the armrest or a cushion, he was SO proud.

However, the success of climbing to the top of Mt. Sofa only fed into his need to accomplish bigger and better things. It didn't take long before I realized I had an adrenaline junkie in the making.

At first it was small things, like standing on top of one of his toys, pretty low to the floor, but still a huge accomplishment to Ryan. He would even stand on top of clothes, shoes, a DVD that he threw on the floor and even attempting to climb onto Inga on occasion. But, as one may guess, all those small feats just teased Ryan. He needed MORE.

He quickly moved onto other objects, like his little chair that sits in front of the window. This actually proves to be quite entertaining for Donnie and I as Ryan usually dances when he climbs onto his chair. Lately, however, he has become a little more fearless. (I like to call it suicidal, but whatever.) He has figured out how to climb onto the coffee table. I guess it would be easier on me if he would just be content to sit on the coffee table. Really. That wouldn't be that bad. But that's just far too boring for my little Evil Knievel. He has to stand on it and quickly walk from one end to the other. I shudder just thinking about it. But even that became too boring for Mr. Knievel.

He has for some time been able to climb up onto our glider. Scary by itself, but we taught Ryan how to sit like a "big boy" in the glider and he would even rock himself in it. This is great for all of the 30 seconds that it lasts each time. However, Ryan, the thrill-seeker that he is, would much rather go Glider-Surfing. That's far more fun. Yes, and it's basically how it sounds. Ryan climbs onto the glider, looks around to make sure we are watching him (because you know it's just not as much fun unless your parents have heart attacks while you are doing it), and he stands up and "surfs". He actually stands up with his arms straight out and makes the glider rock. As you would guess, I do not have any pictures of Ryan Glider-Surfing. Instead of reaching for my camera, I always go running for Ryan, scoop him up and place him safely on the floor. And my dear sweet Ryan always looks up at me with a huge smile, so proud that he was able to, yet again, go Glider-Surfing, if not for just 10 more seconds.

I'm not sure where he got this suicidal, er, I mean adventurous streak from, but I have a feeling it's just going to get worse from here.

I may invest in that helmet after all.

Ice Cream!

2008-05-26T09:25:00.000-04:00

Ryan enjoying some homemade ice cream on Memorial Day!

Oh, don't worry.....Ryan didn't have a boo-boo. He just wanted to wear the band-aid.

Storm!

2008-05-20T09:29:00.002-04:00

Dark clouds moving in....

HAIL!

After the storm, there was a rainbow in our backyard.

MasterCard Commercial

2008-05-19T22:11:00.002-04:00

Ham Steaks - $4.00 a piece

Potatoes - $3.59 a bag

Corn on the Cob - $3.00

High Chair - $60.00

Broom - $5.00

Watching your 14-month-old clean up after himself: PRICELESS!

Splish Splash!

2008-05-19T16:09:00.003-04:00

Ryan's new pool at Grandma and Grandpa's house...

Once he spotted it, he ran straight to it!
Checking it out...
I think he likes it!

Elisabeth's Graduation!

2008-05-16T14:47:00.003-04:00

Waiting for the Graduation to start...

He got comfy...

I actually spotted her far back in the line!!

Does she see me??

She sees us!!

Walking up to get her diploma!!

Next in line....they were calling her name....

YAY!! Dr. Gabor!!!

So proud!!

Proud Poppa...

Proud Momma...

Proud Brother...

Proud Sister!!!
Proud In-Laws...

Proud Hubby!!!

(She called Jeffrey in Korea and she just finished saying, "I'm a DOCTOR!!")

Proud Best Friend (and family)...

Make a Wish!

2008-05-16T14:07:00.001-04:00

We went to the outlet mall in Charleson after Elisabeth's graduation and there was a fountain. Ryan enjoyed throwing pennies in it!

My Little Helper

2008-05-11T10:41:00.000-04:00

As you can see, I'm a HUGE fan of child labor.....

Ryan loves to push the buggy all over the store. I just have to help him steer it a little.

The "Uncle Kevin Shirt"

2008-05-11T10:28:00.002-04:00

If you know anything about my family, well, then there's no explanation necessary.

Milestone Update

2008-05-07T16:23:00.002-04:00

This past Saturday I finally heard the words I've been longing to hear: MAMA!!!! He finally said it! It makes my heart melt everytime!

Ryan cut his 6th tooth today. No wonder he hasn't been sleeping very well lately. Poor little thing has been in pain. I can also see 3 more teeth trying to cut through. Poor baby!

How Sweet...

2008-05-07T15:57:00.004-04:00

Bed Head

2008-05-07T15:51:00.002-04:00

This is how Ryan woke up this morning.....

Cute, huh?

Outside with Daddy

2008-05-05T09:37:00.001-04:00

Mashed 'Taters

2008-05-05T09:33:00.000-04:00

Here is Ryan eating mashed potatoes. He was using his fork really well but evidently it wasn't getting the mashed potatoes to his mouth quick enough. So he threw his fork down and started using his fingers....

Here's the aftermath of his face.....

And my floor....

He Loves to Climb!

2008-04-30T09:30:00.001-04:00

Here are a couple pictures of Ryan climbing and playing on the couch. This boy climbs E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G! It seems like we are constantly chasing after him and pulling him off of something that he shouldn't be on.

Using a Fork

2008-04-30T09:28:00.000-04:00

Ryan has gotten really good at feeding himself with his fork! He has to try for a few seconds to get the food on the fork but when he does, he gets SO excited!!

Life with Donnie and Ryan

I Was BLIND!

Pregnancy Update!

Popsicle Time!

Easter!

Just a *Little* Under Age

Ryan's Two-Year Check-Up

Happy 2nd Birthday, Ryan!!!

Milestone Update

What Can I Say...

Big News!

Our Mini-Vacation

Snow!

Trip to Augusta & Ivory's Baptism

Mommy Shortcuts

My Quirkiness (Otherwise Known as My Psychotic Tendencies)

A Redneck Adventure

My New Years' Blog-olutions

Christmas!

Office Christmas Party

Then And Now - Christmas Style

What's The Big Deal?

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Visit with Jeff and Elisabeth at the Zoo

Yet Another Blog

Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil

Happy Halloween!!!

19 Months Old

Pumpkin Patch

The Zoo! Part I - The Animals

The Zoo! Part II - Birds, Snakes, etc.

The Zoo! Part III - The Garden

After the Zoo

Messy Boy

103.8

That's My Boy!!

What a Difference a Year Makes

18 Month Check-Up

Ryan's Unique Dancing Styles

101 Things You May Not Know About Me

In Loving Memory

Please Say a Prayer

Just A Swingin'

It's Here

The Scariest Moment Yet

Ryan vs. A Lemon

Monkey See, Monkey Do

Watering the Garden

My Sappy Post for the Week

Potty Time!

Ryan's First Trip to the Beach

You Gotta Be Tough to a Have a Little Boy

Becoming One With Nature

He Went a Little Too Far

Ryan's Baptism

Ryan, Mary and Bubbles!!

The Ramblings of an Optimistic Mind

My Little Monkey

Walking Up and Down the Steps

Silly Boy

Daddy's New Bow

I Knew That Was Going to Happen

Ridin' in Daddy's Truck

Lawn Mower

Riding on the Lawn Mower!

15 Month Check-Up

Coloring with Grandpa

Photo Session with Brooke

Molars

Just Peachy!

The Many Faces of Ryan - Part Three

A Little Update

Tooth Number 10

Is It Just Me?

Ryan Being Ryan

Our Pool

More Teefers!

Bad Grandma!

Sick

Baby Monitor

Just a Little Under Age