Ryan and the Winthrop Warrior at the All School Reunion

Playing Hard at Backbone State Park

Celebrating Daddy's Birthday at Happy Joe's

Sunday Night Lament

I wish I didn't have to go to work tomorrow and leave my baby-boo with someone else. Sigh.

What a Week

What a week so far. Sunday afternoon Ryan did not want to take his nap, so he jumped out of his crib. I heard a thump! and found him face down on the carpet crying. We then went outside to play, and he started jumping off his Little Tykes climber. Head first. (Bad, very bad). He spend two nights in the pack n' play and tonight is zipped under his new crib tent.

Monday was a weird day. We found out Todd's car needs almost $3500 in repairs (Bad, very bad). I took the afternoon off so Todd and I could go out to eat at Shane's Rib Shack (very good) and see Oceans 13 (very good). Later that night I had a nightmare, woke up, went to the bathroom, puked, then went back to bed, and was fine the next morning (bad, very bad).

I guess that is it for news this week. I am very tired (gee I wonder why) and overwhelmed at work. We are going to the farm this weekend, tomorrow is Todd's birthday, and Sunday is Father's Day, so I have been trying to get gifts and cards together along with getting stuff ready for this weekend. Traveling with a toddler takes a lot of preparation. Usually what happens is we get to the farm and then I drag my butt around all day Saturday because I'm worn out. It should be fun though - my grandpa and great-uncle are riding in the Winthrop 15o Anniversary parade as two of the oldest living graduates!

Decked out for the Farmers Market

Uncle Kurt! Uncle Kurt!

Blissful Day

Two Saturdays ago, we had an awesome day. Heather and Kurt were here for the weekend, and my friend Angie was running the Dam to Dam. First we went to the Farmers Market and to find Angie at the race, then we came home and H&K babysat so I could go out to lunch with Angie and Jennifer Bos. Then we went to Glendale Cemetary to feed the ducks. That was quite the experience. There was bread everywhere and some of the ducks had eggs. We took oyster crackers, which the ducks liked, but Ryan would throw the cracker and then pick it up off the ground and eat it before the duck could. The area the ducks were at was very steep, so I had visions of Ryan running downhill straight into the lake, or being attacked by a momma duck. It was fun, but we weren't there long.

Then we went to the cupcake bakery in Valley Junction for cupcakes, to the Garden Barn, then to the Summerset Winery, then home. We had an hour before we were going out to supper and Ryan was going next door. It was the first time I had been out to supper without Ryan since October! We went to Dish and it was heavenly. I will have to post more on that lately. I set a goal for myself to eat everything on their menu by the end of the year. This contradicted the goal I set for myself earlier in the morning, which was to start running and run the Dam to Dam 5K next year.

Look Ma! I have no hair!

A week ago Monday, Todd gave Ryan his fourth haircut. The first three were all done at salons and were too expensive and not that great. Well this one was good, but it was way too short! Ryan now looks like he is about 4 years old. I almost bawled and Terri Ann at daycare almost bawled too. It is growing on me though...

Todd left the clippers on the dining room table, and of course Ryan found them and was over the moon that they had a cord. He loves cords.

Hold it Right There!

Stop! Or I will spray you down with Shout!

Profile

My mom has always said that Todd and Ryan have the same profile, and now I have photographic proof! But, since they finally changed color, he still has my eyes!

Ryan's First Trip to the Zoo

Ryan's first trip to the zoo wasn't as magical as we both expected, but it went fairly well. (I must point out that while Blank Park is ok, it is hard to have a magical anything there if you have been to any other zoo in the US!) His biggest thrill was watching the crows that hang around the snack bar. He is really into birds. He also enjoyed feeding the fish (I wouldn't let him anywhere near the open area - we stayed by the fence) and the aquariums. He liked watching the train, but was sleepy during the ride. Other than that, he couldn't have cared less about any of the animals. My daycare lady suggested next time we skip the zoo and just go feed the ducks in Glendale Cemetery. Not a bad idea since the cemetery is across the street from our house. Ryan only had one teeny tantrum and did a good job riding in the stroller. We also went to Applebee's and he actually sat and behaved the entire time.

The rest of Memorial Day Weekend was up and down. Ryan and I spent Friday night, Sunday afternoon/evening, and Monday evening outside, which was good (with all this time outside - my flower beds are really looking good!). Saturday we were trapped inside because of the rain, which was bad, so he helped me clean the house and we played with his John Deere barn. Actually, we play with his barn every single night and usually for several hours on the weekend - he looooooves it. Anyway, the other big entertainment was that he spent over 2 hours on Saturday morning playing with a bottle of Shout stain remover. Sunday we went to Church and shopping at Target, which was good, but other than that Ryan and I just hung out since Daddy was working & sleeping.

Funny thing - Saturday Ryan started high-stepping it around the kitchen, then looked at me and said "March! March!".

Car Man

Mother's Day 2007

The Little Gardener

Bad Day/Glorious Day

Thursday was not so good. I got home about 1 am from Raleigh, then Ryan had us up at 6 am. Sandy and I attempted to garage sale, but the "huge" sales they advertised were pretty puny. Ryan was out of control all day. He became hysterical ever time Sandy tried to leave and had lots of tantrums. She finally just left him screaming. He also bit me, leaving a big bruise. I guess he was punishing me for leaving him for four days. It worked. I ended up bawling. After his nap, he forgave me and has been nice ever since.

On the flip side, today was a great day. First I went out to the Discovery Garden this morning for planting day (Todd was in charge at home). Luckily Jean had gone out yesterday and planted the 100+ begonias, so all I had to do was plant the tri-color sage and becopa. The theme of our bed is cotton candy, so everything is pink and white. It only took me an hour to plant about 75 plants.

Then Ryan and I did a WalMart run. First I bought an entire cart of plants (whoops!) so we had to put them in the car before we could get the groceries. Then we got a cart of groceries and got them loaded into the car. Ryan fell asleep before we left the parking lot (with a donut hole in each hand) and slept for over 2 hours when we got home. When he woke up, he looked at me and said "Outside!". So, out we went.

We spent a glorious afternoon in the backyard. I worked on planting my flowers. He would watch me until he got bored, and then would go sit in his Fred Flinstone car that I got yesterday at a garage sale. I tried to teach him to plant flowers, but the only concept he caught on to was the watering part. I was so impressed though - he took the hose and sprayer and spent about 25 minutes carefully watering the plants. He even moved the sprayer back and forth! Unfortunately, he also watered himself quite a bit, so I finally made him come in and take a warm bath. I was not popular with him. After much screaming that woke up his father, I finally got him cleaned up.

The bad news of the day is #1) Ryan can open the gate in the backyard and escape #2) I'm pretty sure his ears are infected again. That means we are going to a specialist.

Greetings from North Carolina

Hi from Raleigh. One of our speakers didn't show up, so I am killing time for a few minutes. I miss Ryan, but it has been nice to get out of the house, go out to eat, and socialize. Unfortunately few of the questions from the list we brought with us have been answered :(
The weather has been nice and so is the hotel. I am leaving for the airport today at 4:30 pm and will be in Des Moines at 11:38 pm. Ugh.

Mahnie

Ryan keeps saying, Mahnie, Mahnie, Manhie, Manhie, Mahnie. As far as I can tell, he is either saying Marnie, Marnie, Marnie or money, money, money. I think it's Marnie, Marnie, Marnie! At least I'm not Ma any more.

We have been going for our nightly 2 mile constitutional. I am good for the first 1.75 miles, then I wonder how the hell I am going to get home. It's not too bad, but my back is starting to ache from hunching over the stroller. Ryan enjoys it, particulary if there are snacks involved. He has started kicking back and putting his feet up on the tray while I push. There are two carved bears about at an apartment complex about a block from our house, and he always points and laughs at them.

The other night we stopped by the library on the way home. I picked up some paperbacks to read on the plane, and paid my latest fines. You'd think with the library across the street from my house I would remember to take my books back!

Preschool

Some days Ryan gets out of the toddler room and does the preschool activities with the older kids. Yesterday they were studying ovals and the color yellow, and Ryan got to attend. He brought home a yellow bumble-bee (oval shaped) that he had colored. Amazing.

Also, when I went to pick him up, the remaining little kids were sitting quietly in their chairs watching the Grinch. I looked in the toddler room and in the highchair for Ryan, because it never occurred to me that he was one of the quiet kids in the chairs! The other kids were excited and kept saying 'Ryan is in the chair!'. I was shocked!

New word of the evening: elbow or as Ryan says, eb-oh.

Obsessed with the Sump Pump Hose

Getting Sprayed by the Sump Pump

Croppin' and Gardenin'

H missed one heck of a great crop yesterday in Ankeny. Jan generously went up Friday night and paid the $5 donation each for us so we could all sit together. I shared a table with Jen and her boss Ashley, who is very nice and just starting to crop, and was next to Roni and Steph. We always have a good time. The food was excellent, we won lots of door prizes, and we even did some shopping. I got a Pizza for 2 Basket in the silent auction (basket, classes, pop, candy, and 2 Dominos pizzas) for $23, and made some good pages. The most fun was that I made an alphabet book for Ryan. I cut 7 sheets of 12x12 paper into fourths, punched holes in them, and put them together with metal rings. Then I put a letter of the alphabet on each page and then put other stickers on the page that began with that letter. It went together fast and was so relaxing because I didn't have to make it fancy. It was also a good way to use up a lot of old stickers. I still have a few letters to fill in, but it was mostly done after an hour! I pooped out at 7 and went home. My back was locking up, but mostly I missed Ryan :)

Today Ryan and I have been gardening. Which really means I garden and Ryan plays with the sump pump hose. We have it hooked up to two sprinklers, and he got caught next to one of them when it went off. He just played in the water and laughed! Then things took a turn for the worse. He knocked the bird bath over on himself. It was full of icky water and leaves, which dumped all over him and went in his mouth. He screamed and screamed. I rushed him in and put him straight into the tub. Other than a red swollen eye where the bird bath whacke him, he cleaned right up.

Then Todd came home and we attempted to put Ryan's playground equipment together. We were having problems figureing it out, Ryan wouldn't get out of the way, and it was super hot (the trees have no leaves - so no shade) so we finally gave up at 2 and went in for a late lunch and a naps. Ryan dumped a bottle of water all over himself, so we got into outfit #3 before his nap.

While the Todd and Ryan napped, I went back out and worked at cleaning off my perennial bed and smoothing out my dirt pile. I also mudded in three plants that Ryan and I bought this morning at WalMart (you can never have enough plants - it's a sickness). I finally came in at 4 pm and showered again. I kind of feel like croppin', but I should probably get Ryan up since it is 5:15 and he goes to bed at 8:15!