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Buddies

I Can Stand!

Monsoon

What a monsoon this afternoon! It was pretty scary looking for a while. It was so dark and raining so hard that I couldn't see across the street. Ryan was quite curious about it all. I think he could tell that things looked different out there.

Keep Your Fingers Crossed

My problem with my car has been getting worse. Yesterday it stalled 4 times between work and daycare, and wouldn't restart for at least 5 minutes each time. The mechanic said there is nothing else he could do until it completely dies and won't restart. So, Todd and I switched vehicles because it isn't safe to haul Ryan around in my car. This afternoon, Todd called me at work. He didn't even make it to the stop sign at the end of our block before it died. It wouldn't restart! Hooray! So, he pushed it home (in this heat!), and we had it towed. I had to leave work early (again) and go pick up Ryan, then bring Todd's car home for him to go to work. So, I got a few extra hours with Mr. Ryan. My boss is being very understanding about my car problems. Hopefully this is it, and they can finally figure out what is wrong with it. Diane is being a dear and hauling me and Ryan to and fro tomorrow.

Jumping in a Pile O' Poop

Todd was home Sun-Mon-Tues so that was nice. Tuesday night I actually cooked. I grilled porkchops. I put Ryan in the exersaucer, and then Todd and I went to the kitchen to fix our plates. I got my plate and headed into the living room to watch Big Brother. I was gone 2 minutes tops. I looked over at Ryan, and there was a pile of poop in the bottom of the exersaucer. Then I looked at his bare foot. It was entirely covered in poop. The other foot had a sock on it, and he was grinding the poop into the bottom of the exersaucer. The back of one leg was covered from hip to toe and the exersaucer seat was nasty. Ugh. It took both of us to get him cleaned up. Of course Ryan thought it was funny!

Sick Little Boys

Yesterday just when I was about to call Rachel and tell her that Ryan was too sick for us to go to Anthony's birthday party today, Rachel beat me to the punch and called me. She wanted to tell us not to come to the party because Anthony is really sick with a virus. It sounds like Anthony and his mother are both miserable. We commiserated about the joys of sick children and then hung up and went back to our babies.

Ryan is off to the doctor tomorrow - again. The tylenol wore off and his fever was 104 degrees this afternoon. The peds nurse assured me that if I kept him dosed up with tylenol, it would be fine to wait until morning instead of going to the ER this time. He is now back down to 100 and playing on the floor.

Spashing Around

Weekend/4th Recap

How weird it is to have the 4th on a Tuesday! It was confusing at work on Wednesday. I kept thinking it was Monday. Ryan and I had a good trip on Saturday/Sunday to the farm, and then Todd (yes! Todd), Ryan, and I went to Oskaloosa for the 4th. It was all a very good time, but Ryan got off his schedule and was soooo tired, but wouldn't go to sleep. I was very excited Wednesday night because after we did our gardening and bath, he went to sleep at 8:15, good as gold. The return to schedule was short-lived though... last night he slept for 3 hours on my lap after we got home from daycare. He wouldn't let me put him down. Very strange. When I finally couldn't hold him anymore, I woke up and I took his temp. 102.8! What is it with this kid and fevers? So, I am home from work again. He is sleeping now.

Our trip to the farm was uneventful but fun. I got to see my family both days and we went out for Mexican food in Oelwein. It was the best Mexican I have ever had. In Oelwein! Who knew? Ryan spent the whole time in a high chair with his head cranked around looking at the other customers. Never heard a peep out of him. I also got some perennials from my great-aunt Betty's flower bed, and my dad barbecued for everyone on Sunday including Aunt Merry and my grandpa. Tuesday we were in Osky from 12:30 - 7:00. We just hung out and ate great food. Todd's parents bought Ryan a pool, so we filled it up and then went to WalMart for swim diapers. Sandy ended up getting him the swim diapers, swimming trunks, a set of foam letters for the pool, and his first pair of shoes. Then he fell asleep, so we sat around and waited for him to wake up. Once we got him in the pool, he went absolutely nuts. First we sat him up and he splashed a lot. Then I put him on his stomach. That's when he got really crazy. He spent at least 30 minutes going around in circles, kicking his arms and legs. He was trying to swim! It was hilarious. We brought the pool home with us, so we will have to try it again when he is feeling better.

Not much else new. I am still putzing around in the garden afterwork and my car is still acting up. It spent a week at the dealership in Adel, and they couldn't find anything wrong with it. It then proceeded to die the next day, but started right up. It has been to Newton and back, and Osky and back with no problems. It did die once while Todd was driving it, so at least I know its not just me!

Bathing Beauty

Grandma bought me my first shoes!

What a Bummer

Well, I cancelled the trip to Aurora because my car is sick. And now I cancelled my evening at Tami's because Ryan is sick. I kept him home yesterday because of his fever and he slept on my chest almost all day. I finally got him an appointment for 9:10 this morning. Thank goodness because his fever was 103.8 when he woke up this morning. Once again, the doctor couldn't find anything wrong. So we are taking tylenol and cuddling. I won't get to do anything else this weekend, but Ryan comes first and it was nice to get an extra day with him, eventhough he is sick, so I can't complain.

Unsuccessful

The other night I took at least 20 pictures of Ryan outside, and never got a single one where he was looking at the camera! However, Ryan pulled on his first flower and tried to eat his first mulch, so maybe it wasn't a waste after all :)

PS. Check out my repainted bird bath.

Pure Joy

Ooh...something good happened tonight. Since I had robo-cleaned the bathtub for my Mary Kay party, I gave Ryan his bath tonight in the big bathtub instead of the sink. Ryan was in a state of bliss. He absolutely loved it, altho it was a bit frustrating when his toys floated out of reach. When the water started to get chilly, I laid him on his back to wash his hair, and he started kicking hard just like he was an Olympic swimmer. Water was flying everywhere! We don't have a video camera, but we were able to take a few short videos with my digital camera. Then he turned over on his stomach and started crawling backwards. Sure, he'll crawl in the bathtub, but nowhere else!

Reasons I Am Frustrated

1. Ryan has a low-grade fever, but ever since 105.5 I am scared of fevers! He has two more teeth poking out (for a total of 6) so maybe that's why he has the fever.
2. My #$%^&*! car. It keeps stalling (while driving!!!) for no reason and no one can figure out why. I can't get it in again until Monday, so I had to cancel my weekend trip to Aurora.
3. I was digging in Ryan's closet, and when I stood up my toe stubbed the carpet and ripped off half of my big toe nail. Ow!
4. I got distracted last night and forgot to watch Big Brother.
5. I broke the wheel off Ryan's stroller and the replacement part is $30 after shipping.
6. I am having a series of bad hair days.

Ok, now I am doing whining. It helps to have someone to talk to! Things have been pretty good other than the above. I had a nice weekend last weekend. Friday night I had my Mary Kay party with the poker girls and afterward we played Apples to Apples. Diane kicked butt. Saturday I ran errands with H and then I went out! Tami and Preston babysat so I could go to the High Life Lounge and the Royal Mile with H, Rikki, Amy, and Brian. The High Life Lounge rocks. It looks just like my basement, and all the food comes with Tater Tots. There were Tots everywhere. We had regular tots, bacon-wrapped tots, tachos (like nachos but with tots instead of chips)and more cool stuff. Then we went to the Royal Mile where Brian entertained us. I learned too much information. Sunday Todd and I went to Travis's to pick up the champagne for the wedding, then out to lunch, then to the wedding. The wedding was very sweet and nice(eventhough they wouldn't let us have the champagne!) Brian and I carved up the cake as best we could. My family came over afterwards, so that was nice too. The rest of the week has been work, Ryan, and watering the garden.

Countdown

5 hours, 53 minutes until Big Brother All Stars starts!

Heart Update

Today we took Ryan to see Dr. Chandramouli for his heart checkup. He had a chest x-ray and an EKG, but did not have to have the echocardiogram. The Dr. says the hole is still there, but it is smaller. He can tell this just by listening. He must have expert ears. He believes the hole may close in the next six months. He told us that nothing bad is going to happen to Ryan and not to worry. His next checkup is Dec 11. Ryan, of course, laid perfectly still during the EKG. How did I get so lucky? I think he was waiting for them to poke him with something and was saving his energy to scream!

Third Time's the Charm

Tonight was our third attempt at having Brian and Diane over for supper. The first time, the bar was broken into and Todd had to rush to Newton. The second time was when Ryan and I had colds and started getting pink eye. The third time was tonight, and it was a success. I made baked sweet potatoes, cheese bread, shrimp skewers, and Rachel Ray's Chop Chop Salad with Spicy Dressing. Brian and Diane brought over thick, juicy steaks and margaritas. Brian brought four different spice blends for us to choose from, and then he grilled the steaks. It was delicious. I inhaled mine. Yum. Diane helped clean up, and we visited until Todd and Ryan both fell asleep. It was nice to socialize, and it was the first time in probably a year that Todd and I were together and were laughing and joking and not talking about the bar or Ryan (he was entertaining himself in the exersuaucer). A great night!

Marnie actually left the house on a Friday night!

Well, I actually had a social engagement on Friday. I'm not sure if it counts since we took Ryan with us, but he is so good that you hardly notice he's there. My big night out was that Diane and I went to Merle Hay Mall. We got a lot of shopping done and then we went to La Hacienda for supper. I even had a margarita! and had something besides fajitas. I had the carne asada, which is basically fajitas without the peppers and onions. It was very good. We didn't get back to my house until 8:30. Ryan was good as gold shopping and at the restaurant, which is typical (I'm very lucky), but I was a little surprised because he missed his 4:30 bottle and 6:00 jars (2) of baby food, and his 8:00 bottle. I tried to feed him at the mall, but he was too busy looking around.

Yesterday I sort of relaxed and Ryan and I went to WalMart. We only got stopped by three admirers, and he slept the entire time. I got two $5 floribunda roses, so I was very happy. I had the carseat and four big rubbermaids in the cart, so by the time I got to the checkout, I was pushing with one hand and carrying three boxes of cereal in the other! I always get the weirdest and slowest clerks. This time my clerk was deaf and couldn't speak, so you had to write down any questions. That didn't bother me at all, but apparently he wasn't familiar with fruits and vegetables. He handed everyone in his line the cheat sheet the clerks have with the pictures, and we had to point out which fruits and vegetables we had. I didn't know tomatoes where so confusing!

Today I was going to take Ryan to church, but I woke up with one eye glued shut. I now have pink eye in the other eye! Whoo-hoo! I spent the rest of the day cleaning and doing laundry.

Tomorrow is a big day. It is Ryan's checkup at the cardiologist's. I am not too worried about the cardiologist, but Todd is wondering if Ryan will be able to play sports with his heart murmur. We shall see how it goes. I bet he doesn't lie as still during the echocardiogram as he did the last time (he was six weeks old then)! He will have to have another chest x-ray too, which bothers me because he just had one when he had pneumonia.

Bizarro

Last night when I was feeding Ryan at 12:30 am, I saw one of the weirdest, scariest things ever. It was a clean-cut David Lee Roth performing the bluegrass version of Jump! I am still traumatized.