Pictures

The mighty pirate conquers his lunch - AAARRRGH!

The Ryan-Monster roars from inside the skeleton of a dinosaur.

Goggles help you put together your new puzzle from Aunty Kathy faster!

A two-headed giraffe!!

Check out My Ads

The ads on my blog continue to make me laugh. They adjust to the content of my blog. Look at them - now they are all for gout, rash, or abdominal pain!

Random Information

Hmmm...I really can't remember much of note around here. I was way behind at work before I went to San Diego, and now I'm even further behind. By the time I get Ryan in bed at night I am brain dead...so here are some random bits of information:

1) Mommy: Ryan, you are my favorite person in the world!
Ryan: No, I'm just a good boy. I'm not a person!

2) Ryan has had a 103 degree fever since Thursday. He has hand-foot-and-mouth. There is nothing you can do but give ibuprofen for the pain and fever. He has sores in his mouth and the typical hand rash all over his chest. I managed to get just the right dose of medecine at just the right time this afternoon so we were able to play outside for a bit today.

3) We need a new air conditioner and a new furnace. We have known we needed the air conditioner since last fall, but I also had them look at the furnace because it did some weird things this winter and our bill was really high. Apparently the heat exchanger in our furnace could crack at any time spilling CO into the house. Lennox recalled the furnace in the early 1990's (before we bought the house) because it was so dangerous. We are thinking of getting a heat pump.

4) Last week Rachel treated me to lunch at Hu Hot. It was fun and a nice treat. She got a gift cert for her birthday, and Eric won't eat there, so she took me. I never get to go there because Todd won't eat there, so it all worked out well.

5) Ryan stayed overnight in Oskaloosa last Saturday night. I should have been out painting the town red, but instead I watched the last 4 episodes of Dangerous Housewives and some crime shows I had taped. Sunday we went out for supper with Aunt Kathy and Uncle Denny so they could see Ryan. Sandy and Grandpa Fortner had been bragging to Kathy about how well Ryan talks (he talks in paragraphs, non-stop), but he was tired and only said about 25 words the whole time! I think everyone was disappointed, but I enjoyed the silence! You've got to take it when you can get it!

6)We went to the zoo on Monday. Ryan was most impressed with the playground. He asked why the monkeys weren't talking (they're not like Curious George), and why the cow wasn't walking (it's fiberglass). Since it was Members Monday, we got a free train ride. We ran into Rachel and the boys when we got off. It's a pathetic zoo when compared to St Louis or Omaha, but it is the perfect size for Ryan. Not too big and not too crowded. We were lucky to get a membership for Christmas, so we can zip in and out whenever we want. Ryan fell asleep on the way home and didn't wake up until 4:09 AM Tuesday morning!

7) My parents got hit by the tail end of the Hazelton tornado the same day as the Parkersburg tornado. They had softball sized hail, lost shingles, ruined the siding and air conditioner compressor, and the silo has spiral cracks in it. The middle row of trees in the grove were sheared off at the base. I guess that they were under the stairs in the basement and were sure there wouldn't be a house left when they went upstairs. They were very lucky. The farm south of them lost their bin and barn, and the windows in their house were blown out.

Sesame Street Live

Second Row Tickets: Free

Soda: $2.50

Parking: $6

Ridiculously Priced Souvenir: $15

Taking My Son to his First Stage Show: Priceless

San Diego Pictures

Statue of Navy Man returning from war.

The biggest Hen and Chicks I have ever seen in my life!

I finally got to see a Panda Bear! Everytime I have been to the zoo in Washington DC, the pandas were hiding inside!

Sunset views near our hotel.

Me suspended over the ocean on the USS Midway.

Our free appetizer at Buster's. We used every tacky tourist coupon we could.

My Luck is Changing?

I thought my luck was changing because Dahl's called to say I won 4 tickets to Sesame Street Live! This is awesome. Since it's free, if Ryan misbehaves or is bored we can walk out and not feel like we wasted money. I never win anything so I am way excited!

But then...Todd almost didn't make it home from work last night. The jeep is leaking oil, power steering fluid, and engine coolant. Great! When it rains it pours!! Luckily my mom is lending me my grandpa's car while Todd's is in the shop.

Tomorrow Todd and I are going to San Diego. We are going to hang out for 3 days before the Climate Change Conference. It will be nice to be away from all the icky things at home. Although I will miss Ryan......

Stress and Sickness

This has not been a fabulous week at our house. First of all we are very stressed. With it costing $50 - 60 to fill up a car with gas, you can guess how much money people in Newton have left to buy drinks. Zilch. I am getting worn down from my double-workload at work, and I have never quite got the hang of balancing work outside the home and motherhood.

Anyway, Sunday Todd's wrist swelled up and he was in excruciating pain. After 2 hours at Urgent Care and 8 hours in the ER we didn't have a confirmed diagnosis. They even "tapped" his joint - i.e. they took a very big needle and sucked fluid out of his wrist. It was possibly one of the most disgusting things I have ever seen.

Monday we found out it was gout for sure. He has uric acid crystals in his wrist. This has involved many pills and many doctor's visits. He has to take medicine FOR A YEAR! to dissolve the crystals and is still in a lot of pain. To top it off, they think he has Crohn's Disease and was supposed to have an endoscopy/colonoscopy on Monday, but can't because of the Gout.

While we were at the ER I started sneezing and developed a horrible cold. I was horribly congested all week, and I have hives all over me (stress). The medicine for the hives makes it so I can't breathe, and the medicine to help me breathe brings back the hives!! To top it all off, the 85 plants I ordered came last Friday so I have been using every spare moment to get them in the ground before we leave for San Diego on Monday.

Today is better. The plants are in the ground and I have found the right medicine combo for the hives and my nose. Ryan is wild as hell though. I finally had to take him to McDonald's so Todd could sleep. I don't think he has shut up for more than 30 seconds all day!!

Well, it is time to go beat my laundry into submission again. Every time I almost catch up, it the pile grows again. I swear my towels are having sex and multiplying!

I forgot...

I forgot to tell you that Ryan is obsessed with tromping around the house and outside wearing one, two, three, or a combination of these items:

-snowboots

-my sunglasses (he looks like Posh Spice)

-a Dr. Suess backpack stocked with a phone, a flaslight, and two naked Barbie Dolls,

-no pants

-his coat

-socks on his hands

Stein Happenings

Two Friday nights ago Rachel and I had a girls' night out. My neighbor girl came over and babysat all three boys. We went to eat at Bonefish Grill (http://www.bonefishgrill.com/). Neither one of us had been there before, and it is not somewhere our husbands would enjoy, so we took full advantage of the occasion and ate a lot of seafood. We also had two martinis each. The pomegranet one was to-die-for. If we would have had a DD and a pitcher, we would have been in Nirvana. We had a great time catching up. Then we went to the mall for a bit and then home. Luckily, Ryan and Anthony didn't fight, so everyone had a sucessful evening.

The next morning Ryan and I left for the farm. We went straight to my grandpa's to sort through some stuff. My mom and sister have been working their butts off for weeks (my dad too!) cleaning out the sheds, basement, and garage, and packing up the household stuff for the sale in June. They were almost done by the time I got there, but I got everything I wanted. It is all sentimental stuff. My grandpa was a real tightwad, so there's nothing of value. I got the sugar bowl. It is a really ugly ceramic yellow/brown, but my grandma let us but as much sugar on our cereal as we wanted. I remember a lot of happy breakfasts with that bowl. I also got her spoon collection, some teacups, silverware, souvenir plates, and some Christmas decorations. I also get the china cabinet, but it is staying there since I have no where in my house to put it.

Sunday was a beautiful day and Ryan enjoyed swinging, riding in the big tractor, and riding the new lawn mower, which has CRUISE CONTROL!

Yesterday the girl next door came over again so I could go to cleanup day at the Discovery Garden. It was cold, but fun. We raked, built a new entrance to the tunnel, rebuilt the tunnel, and I planted 140 violas. Other than that, Ryan and I have been hanging out and playing. I am in a bummer mood so Todd is playing with Ryan while I work on the computer. There is so much to do with so little time. Sigh.

Muddy Delight

This is what his diaper looked like afterwards. Very muddy.

This was taken a few weeks ago, on one of those hot, sunny Sunday afternoons. I let Ryan play in the mud. He washes off!

Meningitis?

It was a long, horrible week. Ryan had another Mystery Fever of 103 for three days, things are icky at the bar, the audit has been expanded, it was Climate Change Council on Friday, etc. I managed to revert to my old ways and pack on 6 pounds in a week! Friday after the Council, I picked up Ryan. Diane was going to get Vietnamese food and bring it over. We were going to drink wine and relax and let Ryan watch cartoons all night.

I got home and Todd had been puking all day and had a horrible rash on his face. I called Diane to cancel and sent Todd to urgent care. The doctor there decided he might have Meningitis!!! She sent him to Mercy for a spinal tap. I called Diane and she rushed over to watch Ryan. I called to alert the moms and headed over to Mercy.

When the doctor finally came in, he took one look at Todd and said, "You don't have meningitis! Who told you that? I'm going to call that doctors' office and tell them they have no business scaring you like that!! You have a virus". So no spinal tap. They gave him a pint of saline, a prescription for painkillers and anti-nausea medicine and sent him home about 12:45 am. Lovely.

I still can't get any @##$ pictures to post. Must be my computer. Neither photo bucket or blogger are working. But, I did get a counter put on it, so I can see how many hits I get.

I am Just Sick

I am just sick about 2 things:

1. Yesterday I bought my airplane ticket to the California Climate Registy Conference in San Diego. It was $310. When I tried to buy Todd's (he's coming back earlier than me), the computer kept locking up. Today I tried to do it and the same ticket is now $471!

2. The back of my new spring jacket has a rip in it, which has grown to 10 inches. And I can't find the @#$% receipt!

Something funny: Ryan calls our living room "the special dining room"!

Something not so funny: Ryan has a 103 degree fever so I am home. I should have expected though, the Council is meeting this week and we are also having a party tomorrow at work. He has been sick for two Council meetings, the Halloween party, and the Christmas party.

Really not funny: BLOGGER still won't post my pictures!

Frustrated

I can't get Blogger to upload any pictures. It just runs and runs. Errr! Frustrated!!!

Ryan and I had a good day yesterday. We played almost the entire day outside. I put him down for a nap, but after 90 minutes of calling my name, I let him out of the cage and we went out to play again. The girl down the street has 2 rabbits in a hutch, so we visited them, visited Larew's, looked to see if Trevor was home, raked, ran around, and played in the mud. It was a heartbraking day too because he wants his Daddy to play with him more and not go to work at night.

I know I shouldn't let Ryan play in the mud, but he washes off. Now, if he gets pneumonia, it will be my fault, but he was enjoying himself. I have some awesome pictures, but can't post them. Errr! Where did I get the mud? Our sump pump pipe broke off a few weeks ago and now the water collects on the patio. It is about 6 inches deep. Ryan was driving his lawnmower through it and having a wee of a time.

Thursday night I actually left the house. Diane, Christine, and I went to Ladies Night at Earl May. Surprisingly, it was pretty cool. They had all sorts of free food and a guy giving free massages. I almost swooned during mine, although having a man do it was a little creepy. My neighbor next door watched Ryan for free!

Last Saturday I hit the Crop for juvenile diabetes with the girls. It was way disappointing compared to last year, but I was just happy to be out of the house. I hadn't cropped since November. I had to leave for a while in the afternoon to go to Sylas Daniel's adoption party, which was fun too. I am so happy for Tami and Preston. After the crop we even went out for drinks! Those 2 drinks + my 4 drinks in Kansas City mean I have had 5 more drinks than in 2006! When we got home, H and I watched some bad television. We found a show called Pants Off, Dance Off. On this show, a contestant is called a Pancer. They strip down to their underwear while the host pops up with snarky comments about them. The contestants are all weird looking and think they're hot. It was like watching a train wreck.

I called DirectTv and had them hook up Showtime for us since The Tudors started again. That Henry VIII was an ass, but it is a good show, eventhough we all know it's going to end. Anne Boleyn is going to get her head whacked off. Duh. I am into it though because I just finished reading The Other Boleyn Girl and now I am reading The Boleyn Inheritance. I am almost done with the last one because Ryan fell asleep on the way home from the grocery store last night and slept until 8 am this morning. Lots of good reading time!

Easter was fun too. I invited my whole side down. This is only the 2nd time I've had a holiday because my grandpa was never able to travel down here. It was fun but crowded and Ryan was way wound up. I cooked a good brunch, which was proved when the majority of my Lighten Up Iowa team gained weight that week!

I'm So Far Behind...

I'm so far behind with my blog, I don't know where to start. Here are some pictures taken this week. Sun/Mon we were at the farm to go through my Grandpa's tools. They had so much snow on the ground Ryan and I got a good workout tromping through the snow back and forth to the machine shed. Wed/Thurs/Fri I was in KC for work, and yesterday Ryan and I just played trains and watched cartoons.

Out of the Mouths of Babes

Saturday Ryan, Mom, and I were sitting at the dining room table. Ryan farted. I said, "Ryan, what do you say?", hoping he would excuse himself. He looked at me and said....

"Bye Bye Poopie!"

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The past 7 days have been a whirlwind. Last Sunday I left for DC for a quick 60-hour business trip. I hate to say it, but after dealing with Naughty Boy all week, it was almost a relief to go. My meeting was all about the State vs. Federal role in climate change legislation and regulations, and it was very inspiring. It was a small group of people, and both Bill Richardson and John Kerry came and talked to us. After they were done I was ready to go out and change the world! I only had 90 minutes of free time the whole trip, but I took the Metro to the Mall and saw the WWII Memorial and hoofed it back to the hotel.

Todd and Sandy took Ryan to Humboldt for a visit while I was gone, and Ryan got a fever there so I came back to a sick little boy. Of course, he was a total angel the entire time I was gone. Todd stayed home with him on Wednesday, and I stayed home with him on Thursday. Friday he went back to school and I worked until 2 pm. At 2 my mom and aunt came and picked me up and we went to lunch at King and I and shopping at Barnes and Noble. That was THE GOOD.

I picked up Ryan and he was out of sorts. Friday night was one temper tantrum after another. I even had to send him to his room for a while. That was THE BAD.

Saturday was THE UGLY. We took him to see the Easter Bunny at the mall and ride the train. The Easter Bunny sits in a pink house that has a door on the side. Ryan wanted in that pink door more than anything in the whole world. We were waiting in line and he pryed the gate apart and ran into the house. I had to go in and get him. He started screaming and kicking and laid down on the floor of the house. I got him out, but he was still screaming and he threw his chapsticks (he carries them around) across the mall. We chewed him out and carried him to the door. He did not want to put a coat on and laid again on the floor screaming. I swatted his little butt and sat him next to the wall to calm down. He sat there for a few minutes until he was calm and then lost it again when we left. My mom threatened to throw his chapstick away and told him to behave. He stopped. Defeated, we returned to the house. I took Aunt Jan over to her friends' house and did a few errands while mom sat with Ryan. He fell asleep by the back door waiting for me. We watched Ratatouille and he was pretty good, but every little thing would send him into a horrible tantrum. It was ugly and we were all frustrated.

Today was THE GOOD. Ryan woke up in a good mood, so we said some prayers and headed out to breakfast. He behaved, so we went to McDonalds to play and had a good time. Then I took him to play outside. We went for a walk, he drove his car down the sidewalk, saw the neighbor's bunnies, visited Anne and Gary, and had a good time. We came in, watched Scooby Doo, and he went down for his nap. He must have just been having a bad day yesterday.

We did have one bad incident - he and I were crossing the street today, we walked on top of a pile of snow, not knowing that the storm sewer was underneath. The snow broke loose, and my foot went down into the sewer and Ryan and I fell to our knees in the street. He was uninjured, but I am missing a huge chunk of skin on the back of my ankle. Ouch!

Daredevil

This is Ryan's Chatterbox Telephone car. He got it for his first birthday from Grandma and Grandpa Stein, which is when this picture was taken.

Last night I left the basement door open for 15 seconds, and Mr. Ryan decided to ride this car down the basement steps. I arrived in time to see him and the car cartwheel down the steps, end-over-end. He ended up face down on the floor with only a sore index finger to show for the catastrophe. He cried for about 45 seconds then asked to watch Scooby Doo.

I am rethinking my desire for a second child and thanking his guardian angel.

Yes, I'm Still Alive

I see that I haven't blogged since January 1. Good grief. It's been a busy six weeks and our computer is in the coldest room of our house, so I haven't been motivated to blog. Once I get the kid in bed and the house picked up, I crash. Our internet has been down for a week too, and the call queue for Qwest has been really long, so right now I am using someone on my street's wireless connection. Shame on them for not having a firewall.

What's new? Hmmm... Ryan and I had a play date with Rachel and the boys in January and that was fun, but Ryan did not want to share his GeoTrax trains so he was being naughty, and he still talks about Anthony whacking Chase with a plastic golf club. Diane and I are taking yoga on Monday nights, which I am really starting to love. We are looking for a smaller class though, there are so many people in my class that the teacher can't see if we are doing it right or not, and one week a Diane killed a cockroach before class started. Our teacher by the way, is Johnny Gosch's mom Noreen. Interesting.

I've been doing pretty well on my resolutions except I haven't ellipticalled in two weeks because Ryan is not falling asleep at night until like 10:30. He insists he is too big and his crib is too small. I am 2nd on my Lighten Up Iowa team for activity, but near the bottom of the heap for weight loss, although I can wear a smaller size. Odd.

I have also been home 3 times since I blogged. Once to see Grandpa for the last time, which I am glad I got to do, once for the funeral (he died 45 minutes after we got back to Des Moines), and once for my Aunt Merry's birthday party, where Ryan ran around like a crazy man for 2 hours and also stomped on his cousin's head. AAAAAH!

Other than that, I have been working like crazy at work, coloring with Ryan, and playing GeoTrax with Ryan. Those are his two favorite activities and his third is yammering all the time! Yesterday I took a few hours off and did a lot of shopping, and today I managed to clean the bathroom, finish Ryan's new curtains, and get rid of a lot of clothes in the attic. I am giving 6 Rubbermaids of clothes to Goodwill. I have had most of them since college and the first few years at DNR. I have been saving them for when I am that small again, but they are so out of style there's no point now!

The only other excitment around here is that Ryan has seen my grandpa at our house 3 times since he died. I totally believe him. At first it creeped me out, but now I just find it comforting. Grandpa even managed to find a lost toy for us, and put it in the middle of the room for us to find. I will have to tell you the whole story later. It's 5:45 pm now, and Ryan has been asleep for 3 hours. If I don't get him up now, he'll never sleep tonight.

Welcome 2008!

Ah, it's that sweet time on my day off when both my boys are down for their naps.... I passed the time catching up on my Vanity Fair reading and now I am putting my boxes of decorations (took them down last Saturday) in the attic, which requires some rearranging. Ryan and I passed a quiet New Year's Eve playing choo-choos and coloring. I was conked out by 10 pm, which was much better than last year when I got robbed!!

Here are my resolutions for 2008 - perhaps if I blog them, I will stick to them!

1. Be Frugal/Save Money - ah, those weekly trips to the Target dollar spot and to use my Michael's coupon add up. So do those trips through the drive-thru at lunch because I am too busy running errands to eat - see #4. Lots of things in our house are wearing out at the same time and we want to go on vacaction for our 10th anniversary in October, so we must be frugal and save. Todd is going to work on eating out less, which means I will have to cook more :(
2. Actually use my ellipitical machine - even if it is for only 10 minutes a day.
3. Stay hydrated. My worst habit. I usually don't even drink 8 oz of water a day.
4. Take time for me - take my lunch and actually read at lunchtime instead of running errands. Get a sitter some times. Diane and I are going to take a yoga class!
5. Reduce my pop consumption - this will help with #1.
6. Call and see my friends more often. I have the same friends (except Diane) that I have had since 1993. Why don't I spend more time with them? Too lazy to make an effort I guess, but not in 2008!