Our Weirdo Vacation

After we cancelled our trip to Omaha because Ryan and I were sick, we did end up taking a small vacation. It was a weird one though. About noon on Monday we decided we were well enough to go somewhere, so we decided to drive to Humboldt and surprise Grandpa Fortner. Ryan has been to Humboldt twice since he was born, but Todd wasn't able to go either time, so this would be a special trip. All of the other Humbold relatives came over, and we had a good time. Then we decided since we felt so good we would continue on to the Mall of America.

We stopped for the night in Mason City, and let me tell you, it was the night from hell. Putting two coughing hacking adults, one of who is really congested, and a coughing, overtired baby in a hotel room is not fun. Todd is used to being up all night and couldn't sleep, Ryan was overtired and wouldn't sleep, and I was so congested I was miserable. Luckily our room had a recliner, so Todd held Ryan for 2 hours, and then I held him for about 5.

The next morning we decided not to go to the Mall of America because none of us could take another night in the hotel. Instead we did some shopping and spent the afternoon at The Music Man Square in Mason City. It was pretty cool. They have recreated scenes from The Music Man, they have a museum, and you can tour Meredith Willson's boyhood home. You can even have ice cream sodas at the recreated fountain. We took Ryan on the guided tour and he never made a peep, just looked around. Unfortunately we couldn't use the stroller and had to carry him...ugh. Then we headed for home. Wednesday we relaxed then took Ryan to ride the carousel in Union Park and to the wading pool.

That was our vacation. It wasn't fabulous, but at least we got three days of quality family time!

Ryan and Daddy at the Heritage Carousel

Ryan and the Music Man - Meredith Willson

Ryan "Walking" From Great-Uncle Denny to Great-Grandpa

Visiting Great-Grandpa Fortner

Ryan and Cousin Tiffany

Birthday / Time Off

I forgot to tell you, but in between the two latest rounds of fever, I took 4 days off from work for "vacation". This did not involve getting any rest! Here is what I did:

Wed (7/26) I painted our shower (it is cement block) and ceiling in the basement and laid the last of our floor tile. This involved scraping, several layers of waterproof paint, and caulking. I got new rugs and a new shower curtain, and it looks great. I have been waiting over 4 years for Todd to finish this project up, and I couldn't take it any more. I have done all I can do in the basement. It is totally done except for a few trim boards and for Todd unpacking a few boxes and hanging his stuff on the walls.

Thursday (7/27) I finished up in the basement, and then my mom came down at lunch time. We had Mongolian Beef a Great China for lunch and ran some errands before picking up Ryan. I made teriakyi chicken and sweet corn for supper.

Friday (7/28) Mom took me to my eye appointment, and then we went shopping at Jordan Creek. She took me to eat at Cheesecake Factory for my birthday. Yum-o! We also went to Archivers and Target.

Saturday (7/29) Mom babysat so Todd could take me to lunch and a movie for my birthday. We ate a Red Robin, which was ok if you like sandwiches, and then to see Miami Vice. Not a good movie. It was like the episode that never ends. Then we had a Bloody Mary and Chammps and went home. Oh, Todd also bought me some charms for my bracelet while we were at the mall. My mom had baked me a birthday cake, so we had some of that.

Sunday (7/30) Mom left in the morning, then Todd's family (Dad, Mom, Tiffany and Tiffany's boyfriend) stopped by to see Ryan. As soon as they left, my sister arrived. We played with Ryan and cropped on the dining room table. I grilled pork chops for supper. [side note - Tiffany is almost 14 and GORGEOUS, and her boyfriend is 16 and just got his license. Sounds like a dangerous combination to me.]

Monday (7/31) H and cropped until 2 at Memory Bound. I had a $40 budget and only spent $31! I got 8 pages done, which is a miracle for me. I have filled up Ryan's album and had to buy more page inserts. Then H and I took Ryan to the pedatrician and went out for ice cream. Then she went home.

A fun couple of days, but I was exhausted when it was over!

It's Friday - Sick Again

Well, Ryan was healthy for almost two weeks. Like clockwork on Thursday Aug 3, daycare called me at work and said he had a 103.5 fever. Why does he get a fever every two weeks on Thursday afternoon? So, I picked him up and stayed home on Friday. And, like clockwork, my cough was back, I was stuffed up, and now wheezing. What a summer. All we have done is been sick, but only on the WEEKENDS!!! UGH!!!!!!!!! So Saturday I went to the doctor and got anitbiotics, an inhaler, and cough syrup. Sunday I took a still feverish Ryan to the doctor and finally, finally, finally convinced them to give him some anitbiotics. Ryan and I spent another entire weekend, coughing, sneezing, and cuddling. He was much better Sunday afternoon. Altho, Saturday night he vomited up a Stage 3 jar (the big jar) of sweet potatoes! Disgusting. He slept in my arms in the recliner most of the weekend. Sunday I called Angie and told her that we would not be visiting her and the kids in Omaha on Tuesday because we didn't want to get them sick, especially since they had only lived there 10 days and hadn't found a pediatrician yet. I was totally bummed and so was Angie.

Status

Ryan - good as new this morning. He follows me around which is totally cute!
Momma - improving and ready for vacation
Daddy - still hacking his lungs out. How much is bronchitis and how much is Marlboros?

I Think We'll Finally All Feel Good

What an ucky weekend. Todd was sick, but working, and Ryan and I were sick too. Friday and Saturday sucked because Ryan and I both were feeling poosley. Friday night I put him in his little chair and laid down on the couch and said "Momma is sick too. She needs to sleep." He looked at me with those cute little eyes and went to sleep. Thank God! We slept 6 pm - 9:30 pm, 10:30 pm - 3:30 am, then 4:30 - 7 am. Not bad. We even ran a few errands Saturday morning. We both felt better, but not great. The rest of the day was napping and coughing. I kept giving him pediacare every 4 hours. By Sunday, Ryan was cured and I was feeling worse. Grandpa and Grandma came though, and they kept him entertained and took us out for lunch. Last night was hard because he felt like a million bucks and I felt like 25 cents. He discovered that he can crawl in the bottom of his exersaucer, which is pretty cute. Then he got by me and managed to unplug his baby monitor and nightlight, all in about 30 seconds. Naughty boy! I was relieved to see him get better though.

Today Todd and I made doctor's appointments for 10:45, so we let Ryan sleep in and dropped him off at daycare on the way. Finally we found a doctor to give us some antibiotics and cough syrup with codeine. If they would have told me it was a virus again I would have screamed! I spent the rest of the day napping and reading the DaVinci Code. Now I have to go back to the pharamacy (the cough prescription the doctor called in was the dosage for a 4 yr old and it took all afternoon to correct it) to get the rest of my prescription and to pick up Ryan. I am ok unless I cough, then my ribs hurt. Todd just can't quit coughing. I hope I am getting better. I am supposed to be on vacation Wed - Monday and I don't want to be sick for that!

It's almost Friday....

So you know what that means... a cranky baby. That's right, every other Friday Ryan seems to have a cold or a fever. This time it is a cold, and his momma has one too. I don't know who is crankier. I swear that I am going to stuff tampons up my nose to stop it running!

The good news is that I did remarkably well today for only sleeping three hours last night (cranky baby) and Ryan had a good day at day care. Also, tomorrow is payday so that means lunch out. Di and I are going to a new pizza place on Merle Hay called CiCi's. They are supposed to have a $4.49 pizza buffet all day everyday.

Too Darn Hot

It is too darn hot. Ryan and I went to "do the roses" this morning at the Fairgrounds. There are 7 big rose bushes and 13 minature roses. Every two weeks I have to go and dehead them, weed, and spray fungicide. We went at 9 am. Ryan sat in the stroller in the shade and was fine, but I was sweating like a pig. They had the fountain going in Pioneer Plaza, and I was tempted to run through it. By the way, the car is fixed! Hallelujah! It was the crank shaft sensor. Who knew? So, Ryan and I steamed down I-235 this morning with confidence.

Then we went to WalMart. We were out of everything. Seriously. It took 2 hours and 300 bucks and stuff was falling out of the cart in the parking lot, but we are set. We were both hot and cranky by the time we got home. Later Ryan "swam" in his pool for about 30 minutes. He also spit up in it, which was pretty gross. Then we went to Eric's birthday party. We spent the whole time inside with Rachel and the boys. I think Anthony was more excited to see Ryan than Ryan was to see Anthony. Of course, Ryan only slept an hour today, so that could have been why he wasn't as playful as Anthony. He did enjoy doing his army crawl up and down Rachel's hallway though. Then we went to Babies R Us to buy a baby gate for the dining room. Ryan has really taken off in the past 24 hours, so I knew if I didn't buy it tonight, I would go crazy tomorrow chasing him. The baby gate was expensive since the opening is 6.5 feet, but he has already almost gone headfirst over the step, so I'm sure it will be worth it. Now I just have to put it together. Ugh.

Oh, he has also turned into a naughty boy. He keeps trying to play with the cord on the lamp, and when we tell him no, smack his hand, and move him, he just laughs at us!

Hi Everyone!

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