Where Have I Been?

Not sure why I have not posted in six months. I could use the excuse that I'm tired. I am always tired. I could say it is because I went back to work and am so busy. I'm not quite sure why I have not posted. But, I'm going to try to get back into blogging. So, here is the last six months in pictures. Enjoy and glad to be back.

I returned to work in August, after taking a year off. I actually went into work, to decorate my classroom, the day after baby Daniel was born. Four days after returning to work, I took a sick day and we drove to Austin for Henry's cousin's wedding. We drove 25 hours from Thursday evening to Sunday afternoon. Not much site seeing done in Austin, but it was nice to see family.

Ally at the wedding.

I wonder if Ryan enjoyed the wedding ;)

Ryan enjoyed dancing at the reception. Ryan was the hit of the party. So many girls were dancing with him. The lady in the background, in the black dress, was Ryan's dance partner for quite awhile.

A week after Austin, Ally started 3rd grade and Ryan started first grade.

I did not get to take them to school on their first day, due to work. So Henry took the 1st day of school pictures and took them to school.

Ryan lost his first tooth in September. But Ryan, being Ryan, either swallowed it or it fell down the shower drain. About a month later he lost his second tooth and literally lost it. He thinks it fell on the floor and Jasper ate it. Who knows. So, I don't have a baby tooth for Ryan like I have for Ally.

We went to Taos for a weekend in October (I had not gone since last Thanksgiving). Ally spent the weekend riding the tricycle around the hill and Ryan spent the weekend shooting a bow and arrow.

For Thanksgiving we went to Jal. For some reason we did not take any pictures. It was a nice, relaxing time with family. We drove into Hobbs one day to go see the movie The Muppets.

And this is how I spend every Sunday afternoon.

Baby Daniel Has Arrived!!!

I just found this post in my drafts. I can't believe I had not posted it.

Baby Daniel, my nephew from my sister, joined this world on August 4th at 2:04 pm. He weighed 6 lbs 3 oz, which is one ounce less than Ally weighed when she was born. Ryan was 7 lbs 4 oz when he was born. He is 19 1/2 inches long.

Baby Daniels mom is my sister, Cheryl. I am so excited because this is my first nephew on my side of the family and my sister lives only 5 minutes from my house. Based on how many clothes I bought this little boy before he was born, I am going to spoil him so much. Baby Daniel is a baby I can love and cuddle and dress up and when he gets fussy, I can take him back to his mom and dad.

Ryan and Ally love Baby Daniel so much. When I picked him up from the sitter today they immediately asked if wecould go to Cheryl's to seeBaby Daniel. "Of course we can!"

Baby Daniel gave my sister one heck of a pregnancy and delivery. Cheryl developed pre-eclampsia, gestational diabetes and low platelets. The doctors decided to induce her two weeks early. She was induced on Monday about 10:00 pm. He did not arrive until Wednesday at 2:04 pm. I joke that she has one heckof a war story.

My mother, who retired a week ago, willlive with my sister from Sunday night to Friday morning once my sister returns to work, in 8 weeks. My mom will now be the Granny Nanny. I'm pretty sure my dad will also come along with my mom.

Isotope

Ryan's dwarf hamster passed away last night. I found his cold, stiff body this morning. I called the kids in to see him and say goodbye. I almost started crying. Then Ryan says "when are we getting a new one?" and Ally chimed in with "I want one too." So much for heart break.

Parents Day, Ryan Update and Isotope

Ally called us this morning (she is in Jal with Grandma and Grandpa Turtle) to wish us a happy Parents Day (she saw this "holiday" on the calendar). She is enjoying her time with her grandparents. They are going to drive into Hobbs to see a movie today.

Ryan is on Day 4 of recovery from his surgery. Yesterday was a hard day for him. We had to keep up on his pain medication or he was in terrible pain. Yesterday Ryan, Henry and I stayed in our pajamas all day. We didn't comb our hair. I don't think we even brushed our teeth (yuck!). We played a lot of Wii Lego Batman (a new game he got for his surgery) and watched a lot of Lego videos on You Tube. Ryan did sleep in today, which Ryan never does. He then fell back to sleep within an hour and slept another hour and a half. We plan on getting out today. Maybe a movie, no popcorn for Ryan :( , or go and walk the mall.

Here is a picture of the kiddos at an Isotopes game a couple weeks ago.

On a sad note, Ryan's hamster, Isotope, is on the brink of death. Last night I went to feed him and give him water. He wouldn't come out from hiding, so I took apart the cage and found him. He looked so skinny and fragile. His eyes are all goopy and look sealed shut. I gave him water with a syringe. But he wont eat anything. We are keeping an eye on him, but I don't think he is going to make it much longer. Ryan cried for a bit last night about Isotope.

This is the only picture I could find of Isotope. Jasper and Toby (who is no longer with us) keeping an eye on Isotope.

Heading off to Jal

Henry's parents, Grandma and Grandpa Turtle, came up for Ryan's surgery. Ally headed back with them today to spend some time with them in Jal. This is Ally's second year going to Jal, without us, to spend some time with her grandparents. Now Ally loves all her grandparents. However, there is something special between her and her Grandma Turtle. It might have to do with the fact that Grandma Turtle was the closest relative she had the first year of her life. We lived in Midland and Grandma and Grandpa Turtle would come up every weekend to see Ally. In Ally's eyes her Grandma Turtle is unconditional love. They have a very special bond.

When Ally was little she would only go to Grandma Turtle or her Auntie Cheryl (besides mom and dad). Ally was the first grand kid that was in close vicinity to Grandma and Grandpa Turtle. She was also their first granddaughter.

This was taken last fall. Ally just clings to her grandma.

I know she will enjoy every minute of her time in Jal.

Ryan's Surgery

Ryan had his tonsils removed today. Henry and I were very excited for this. This surgery came about because a year ago I mentioned to Ryan's pediatrician that he snores like a bear and I did not think he was sleeping very well because of it. She ordered a sleep study for us, which was done in September (3 months later). Almost two months after the sleep study we got the results. The sleep study found that Ryan stops breathing (sleep apnea), an average of 7 times an hour. I was shocked by this. So we were referred to an ENT who was highly recommended. By the time we saw the ENT it was the end of April. He suggested we have his tonsils removed. Which was scheduled for today (a little over a year from when this whole process started). The wheels do move slow.

Here is Ryan waiting to be wheeled to the operating room. Hoppy went with him into surgery. He was really cool and calm before the surgery.

Here he is in recovery. He slept (recovered) for about two and a half hours. Once he woke up he was given a popsicle to eat and some tylenol. Then Ryan said "when can I get out of this stupid bed?" Stupid is a bad word in our house. But given the circumstances, we understood his word choice. He was really hurting when he woke up. But once the tylenol kicked in he was feeling much better. Since being home he has been able to eat some ice cream and some scrambled eggs (not together). He has also been sipping Gatorade. I am surprised how well he is doing so early. He is all ready playing the Wii. Thank you everyone for your prayers.

Happy 6th Birthday Ryan!

Today is Ryan's 6th birthday. Like I say over and over, my kids are growing up too fast. One of the blogs I follow will do updates on her children on their birthdays. So, I decided I will try to summarize who Ryan is as a six year old.

Ryan is, and has always been, a kid who wants answers. "Just because" or "because I said so" do not suffice with this child. He wants concrete answers for all his questions. The questions can be as simple as "why do I have to put my shoes on?" to the more complex questions such as "what is so great about being a kid?" He wants specific answers such as "you need to put your shoes on because we are going to the store to buy milk because we finished it all this morning" or "there are many great things about being a kid such as 1. you don't have to worry about bills 2. mom cooks all your meals 3. mom does your laundry 4. you don't have to work (which he replied to with "but school is my work"). So true. He will always counter with an arguement.

Ryan is a compassionate child. He truly feels deeply. He breaks down to tears almost on a daily basis because, as I say, his heart breaks. If I promised to make him tacos for dinner then I try to switch it later, you can see, on his face, his heart break as he bursts into tears. He has burst into tears in the middle of class because a classmate wont share with him. On the other side, he cares about everyone with all his heart. He is not always willing to show it, as he runs from your hugs or kisses, but he will randomly run up to us and give us the tightest longest hugs possible. He will not kiss us though. Nor will he say "I love you" to us. I joke that he is afraid of commitment. One day I was having a really hard day and was feeling really low and he came over and put his little arm around my shoulder and said "don't be sad, you are good at a lot of things". He then started listing all the things I was good at. One of them being a good speller. Got to love him.

Ryan and Ally are best friends with an occasional argument here and there. He loves to wrestle with any adult that will wrestle with him. And he is obsessed with Star Wars and guns/swords/light sabers. He definitely has an arsenal of weapons. And he probably added 4 more weapons with this birthday.

He came fast into this world and he has kept us on our toes from day one. Happy Birthday Bubba. We love you more than you will ever know.

6 years ago . . . . . . . .

and today.