Foto Friday

Today's Theme: "Things That Make You Go...Hmmmmm....."

This one fits...
(picture taken 07/2008)

Hmmmmm....Isn't God good?

Don't forget to look at the previous post for our Halloween costume pics.

Halloween Chicken

Trick-Or-Treat

Mr. Handyman

If you ever need any help in the kitchen, I have just the man for the job.

Momma Didn't Want To Cook Tonight

"Ummm....May I help you?"

"It's really pretty good. I promise."

"Would you like a bite? I'll share."

Ryan's New Hat

Here is Ryan's new hat...

This is Ryan wearing his new hat...

This is Ryan trying to take off his new hat...


I wouldn't let him take the hat off, but he learned that if he got it "caught" on something like say a branch or the brick and it "accidentally" came off that must be okay.

Loving the Chaos!

It's finally here!!!!

Come to our garage sale. It's on 15th and I-35 in Edmond...just follow the signs.

Ryan played with Play-Dough for the first time today. By the way, the mat he's sitting on is one of those mats you're supposed to put under a highchair to catch all the crumbs (that is if your child only drops food and doesn't throw it...you should come see my wall after tonight's meal, but that's another story). I've found this mat to be a perfect "messy play" mat. I just thought I'd toss that out there for all you moms of messy toddlers :). He had fun playing with the play-dough although he was most interested in the containers as you can see in the picture.
Ryan and I played a lot today. I really needed just a good 'ole day of fun and play.
I'm so glad it's Friday. Yesterday was a very trying day for me at work. I haven't quite figured out how people can be so terribly rude and think they are either 1.) God's gift to mankind 2.) the world must stop when they have a problem 3.) they are the only person to have ever had a problem like their's (they should read Ecclesiastes...there's nothing new under the sun) or 4.) I, on the other end of the line must just be a "machine" and not a "real" person with feelings.
Please remember to be kind to those from which you are needing help.

NOW A GAME!!! Don't you just love games....
Here is a short little game of opposites.

"Order"

"Disorder"

My dogs understand the concept of orderliness much better than my son right now. I'm just kidding (sort of). Ryan and I were in his room this evening trying our best attempt at cleaning up a little. I folded a bunch of Ryan's pants and put them in the second drawer of his chest all the while he was EMPTYING the 3rd and 4th drawer. After filling the second and re-filling the bottom two drawers I started putting diapers away in our "diaper shelf". They fit perfectly and it actually looks pretty neat when it's full. I turned around and Ryan had cleared out ANOTHER shelf...one under his bed. Blankets were scattered all over the floor. I plopped my self on the beanbag nearby and waited to see what my one-man-demolition-crew was going to do next. You guessed it. He went straight for the diaper shelf...AND EMPTIED AN ENTIRE SHELF! He started working on the other shelves until he noticed the books looked too orderly.....

Foto Friday

Today's Theme of the Day is: "Bad Hair Day"

This picture was taken just a week or two ago. It fits today's theme perfectly.

Don't forget to visit the Ballinger Family Blog and Twin Power to see their Friday Fotos.

Riding

Fun Mini-Vacation

We went on a very fun mini-vacation this weekend. We went to Texas and spent the weekend with Ryan's Gammaw and Pawpaw. It had been a while since we last visited...March to be exact. It was a great get-away for us and a blast spending time with family.

We arrived late Friday evening. Ryan was asleep when we arrived however when he woke up enough to realize we were in some place unfamiliar he came all the way awake. He was a "bear" to get to go back to sleep. Sometime between 10:30 and 11:30 I think he actually closed his eyes. I guess he was afraid he was going to miss something.

Saturday morning we woke up and went and got breakfast in a quaint little "mom and pop" restaurant. The food was great. The service was awesome. I love little restaurants like these. We went to Wal-Mart to pick up a few of those forgotten items. hmmmm....ooops. Ryan fell asleep before we got back to the house. We decided to let him sleep for as long as he liked.

Saturday afternoon we went to the Dallas Zoo. It is a very beautiful zoo, and we didn't even see the whole thing. Now I want to go back! I didn't think about this until much later (after we left the zoo), but I believe our OKC elephants are currently at the Dallas Zoo for some...uhhh...let's see..."friendship". OKC Zoo is hoping to increase the elephant population through this "play date" in Dallas. Saturday evening we spent time visiting and relaxing.

The hit of the day...The Children's Zoo. It was fantastic. I wish I would have gotten a picture of the entire thing to show what it was like, but here are a few things Ryan got to do in this part of the zoo...

Ryan petting a rabbit...

...and a lamb...

...and a pig!

Ryan hugging a big tortoise. (it's not real)

Ryan wishing I'd let him go swimming.

"Which Way Did He Go?"

Hanging out with Mom

"It was then that the family revealed that Ryan was actually hatched..."

Family Photos

Sunday morning we got up and went to church. It was great. It has been a long, long time since Wade and I have gone to church together and came home feeling renewed and revived and excited about what God is doing/will do in and through us. Gammaw and Pawpaw's church is so much more than a group of people who meet once or twice a week. They are one big family. We went out to eat with a big group from the church after services.

Here is a great story about the perception of kids. Ryan is going through and has been in a stage of separation anxiety in which if I, mommy, am not visible things are horrible. He had a "bad" experience in a nursery at church a few months ago. Nothing major, just traumatic in his little mind. Ever since then he has been terribly fearful of church nurseries. This with the separation anxiety thing has made it nearly impossible for Ryan to stay in the nursery at any church. I refuse to let him scream for very long in a nursery especially considering he won't be spending much more time in situations warranting a nursery do to the approaching flu/RSV season. Anyway...I decided to give it a try, dropping him off at the nursery before Sunday school. He did fine until he couldn't see me anymore. I let him cry for a few minutes, but returned to retrieve him fairly promptly. When church services were about to start Miss Val entered our lives! She came over and asked to hold Ryan. I passed him over. She asked me if she could take him out during services. I said, "sure, we can try...". When services started and Ryan was introduced (many of these fine people prayed for him continuously during his NICU stay) Miss Val came and took him away. Do you know, I never heard a peep out of him. He loved Miss Val! In fact, when I went to get him after services he didn't want me...he wanted Miss Val. How cool is that?! This just shows me that there are "nursery workers" and then there are "those who love kids with all their heart". Ryan knew the difference!

Picture Only

I have lots to say about our weekend, but until then here is a picture taken last Friday afternoon....

Foto Friday

Today's Theme is: "Clowning Around"
While our family has loads of fun, it seems that we don't do a lot of "clowning around". At least not that we capture on camera. Here is the biggest clown in our family!

Ode To The Color Blue

Blue, I really don't like you.
You are cold.
You are cruel.
You are scary.
Blue, I really don't like you.


Okay...the poet...I'm not! I thought about dragging that little ditty out for a long time but decided I'd run out of energy before I got to the point. So, there it is. Short and sweet.

I guess the color blue is okay when it's in the sky...where I can't ever touch it. It is pretty up there. I don't like it when I see it on my kids. Brandy turned blue and very, very bad things happened. It was lack of oxygen...a severe lack of oxygen that eventually led to death.

Ryan's lips turned blue yesterday. He and I ran a few quick errands around lunch time. Upon our return I noticed his lips looked a little blue. I cautiously dismissed it while keeping a very close eye on him at the same time because he wasn't acting any differently. The blue wouldn't go away, I went through the system of checks: did he eat something blue, was he choking, did he look okay otherwise, was he cold, etc. I started with the cold. He felt a little cool. I took his temp. It was low. I gave him a warm bath, dressed him in thick feety pajamas, and snuggled up in a blanket with him. The blue remained. Ugh. Wade asked me to go ahead and call the doctor. I did. I explained the situation. They said bring him in, and could I leave now?

We didn't get to see our regular doctor. The doctor we saw was very thorough, though. Ryan had a chest x-ray and a full exam. Dr R more or less shrugged and said he didn't know for sure what was going on, but it could be a seizure or an episode of breath holding. Okay...scary. He said we should keep an eye on him and bring him back to see his regular doctor the next day. (We had a previously scheduled appointment.)

Fast forward to today:
Ryan saw his regular doctor. He, too, did a thorough exam including a blood draw to test for anemia and thyroid function. After much discussion he decided the most likely cause of Ryan's blue lips was that he did indeed get too cold. I asked the Dr. if he could really be that sensitive to temperatures. He said absolutely. Ryan doesn't have enough body fat to regulate is temperature as well as you or I and some other kids. He suggested we dress him more warmly and for him to wear a hat (nice try doc...only if it can be fastened on in several places :) ) Now before you think I'm a horrible mom. (Trust me...I've already gone down the "what have I done to my kid" road.) He was dressed in long sleeves, long pants, socks and shoes. The house was at about 70 degrees, which is cooler than we keep it during the summer but not unreasonably cool. Somehow between the damp weather, cool temperatures, and who knows what other factors Ryan got too cold yesterday.

The regularly scheduled appointment:
SoonerStart came out on Tuesday. He had his usual visit as well as a hearing screen. They never could get a good read on his hearing acuity however when they did a tympanometry test it revealed that his tympanic membranes had no movement. This is an indication of fluid in the ears. They recommended we take him to the doctor and possibly discuss tubes. Dr. S looked at both ears and on a scale of 1-4 with one being minor concern and 4 being great concern Ryan's right ear was a 1 and his left ear was a 3. We return to the doctor to check on this in 4 weeks. Dr. S said that if it is just a sometimes thing and keeps fluctuating then there is no need to get real worried, but if it is a consistent problem it probably needs to be addressed. In four weeks if the fluid is still causing problems he will refer us to an ENT (ear, nose and throat) doctor. Dr. S also asked if we would like to go back to the Hough Ear Institute for another evaluation. I told him that if he felt it was necessary that I didn't have any problems with it. He said we might consider that, but we can wait awhile.

Prayer

Please pray for Tricia. The cancer that has invaded her body is getting worse instead of better. This isn't good news, and the family is obviously discouraged. God is still good. God can still heal....

Kitchen Helper

Weekend Pics

Here are our weekend pictures. They were taken at the zoo.

We are just about to enter into the Flu/RSV season, so Ryan and I have been trying to take advantage of every weekend. We only have 2 "free" weekends left. November 1st starts our hibernation.

It's Hot...I Tell 'Ya!!

Ryan is 20 months old today. Wow! It seems crazy to think about him turning 2 in just 4 short months.

• His last height, which was taken at 18-months was 30 inches. He's not a two-footer anymore.
• His weight on our digital scale here at the house was 21.2 pounds today. Size comparison: Our new puppy, Eddy, weighed 1 1/2 pounds at his 8 weeks vet visit. That's how much Ryan weighed at birth.
• He can say 3 words: Bye-Bye, Dada, and Hot. Language continues to be his biggest delay, but still one of which no one seems too worried about. I don't let it concern me most of the time. I sure would love for him to say, "mama". :)
  
• He runs, walks, climbs, crawls. As long as he's moving, he's happy.
• He still loves his dogs. He's learning how to play with them, yet we still have a daily battle teaching him that you have to "be easy" with the dogs. He thinks it's great to hear them yelp. Poor puppies.
• He's not really attached to anything in the way of a "Lovey" although he has a blankie that he loves to cuddle in. We never put him to bed without it. If he's tired during the day he will find his blankie and snuggle up in it until he is asleep.
  
• He has 10 teeth! Two of his top molars poked through within the last month or so. He loves to brush his teeth. He doesn't like his teeth brushed but he will tolerate it long enough to be allowed to brush his own teeth.
• I can ask him for a kiss and he will put his forehead down for me to kiss.
• Hugs and Loves. I can ask him to give "whoever" some hugs and loves and he complies with a big smile, especially if it's his daddy. Our nightly routine involves him telling his daddy goodnight and giving "hugs and loves".
• I sure would love for him to say, "mama". :)
• Ryan usually takes a morning nap around 10 in the morning for about an hour or a little longer. We (he and I) usually have a time of rest in the mid-afternoon. One of us usually gets a little bit of sleep although if I doze off it's only light since I am also on the job and must be ready for a phone call at any time.
  

Ryan's favorite word is "hot". We started telling him the oven was hot when I cook. He used to go up to the glass and lick it. I'm guessing the temperature change was unique enough to taste. :) Now he taps the oven and says "hot"...even when it's off. I guess that's good because when the oven is actually on and it's time for the food to come out I can tell him to stand "over there" and the oven is "hot". He can watch without getting burned. Yay! I can also cook in one skillet and let him play in another while he stands in a chair at the stove watching as long as I tell him that my skillet is hot.

Of course his lesson on hot didn't come from our overly convincing emphatic explanation of the meaning of hot. His lesson was much more painful I hate to admit. He has touched a hot skillet (albeit his jerk reflexes kicked in very quickly) and he has grabbed my straightening iron. Thankfully neither incident resulted in severe burns just tears and a hard lesson learned. Ryan now KNOWS what "hot" is. He can tell me if his bath water is too hot (for his taste) when his first toe enters the water. When I cook he tells me that everything is hot. When the sun is beating down on the cars he will touch the cars and tell me they are hot. He respects hot, but it's also his favorite word so he often goes around tapping everything and telling us it's hot...the chair, the dog, the window, the toys.....

Happy Anniversary

Happy Anniversary to the One I Love...

October 11th, 1997

11 years!

What Was I Thinking

Can you guess what happened today by looking at this first picture...now, don't cheat, you can't scroll down and see more until you've guessed. :)

Well, you guessed it, Ryan got his first hair cut. What in the world was I thinking?

"Mom, Nana isn't very happy with you."

"Do you still think I'm cute...even without the curls."

I have to honestly say that, yes, I like the new look, but I sure do miss those cute little boy curls. I seriously doubt he gets another hair cut for quite some time.

Foto Friday

I was visiting Twin Powers website and liked the idea of a Foto Friday where a new (or old) picture is posted based on a theme. She got the idea from Tracy's website. I'll join the fun!

Today's theme is "FALL".

This is my favorite fall picture. It was taken last November. Ryan was 9 months old.

Peek-A-Boo

Peek-a-boo, Mom...

Can you see me?

Crazy