YES... I will!

So many things have been going on here and I think it's time to start sharing it all with everyone again.

Ryan & I took a walk with Nancee and Erica this morning. The weather is so amazing right now - cloudless sky, cool breeze and bright sun all make for a really enjoyable walk. I love the sound of all the trees rustling in the wind and the occasional wind chime. It's starting to feel like fall is on its way, even with the still 90+ degree days. I'm trying to get the house all cleaned and ready for Mom's visit. Although with the weather this nice it's making me want to do a "Fall Cleaning".

Have I lost it???

Interest in updating the blog gone.... I think, maybe? Should I get back to it... I think, maybe???

May 2009 Pics

Here are the pics from last month. They are up on Snapfish.

Soon...

I promise, something will get posted soon! Just not sure what.

The Graduate!

Our Graduate!



with Mrs. Stonehouse - her Parapro (teacher's assistant)

with Mrs. DeMarco - the BEST teacher ever.


Katlyn, fellow GS. Sage will be in the same class for 1st grade next year.

They sang this song at the beginning of the ceremony. Didn't know it was going to happen, that's why I missed the first few seconds of it.

The big day is coming...

Sydney "graduates" from Kindergarten on Friday morning. I can't believe just how fast this year has flown by. She's done remarkably well this year - exceeding even our expectation and becoming one of the brightest children in her class. She's super excited about the big event and is glad she gets to wear a cap and tassel. We'll be there, like all the other proud parents, taking tons of pictures and video. So... check back on Friday!!!

Her next school year starts on July 20th.

For the BEST Mom....

Happy Mother's Day Mom... you are the best mother in the world. You are strong, brave, bold, a friend, daring, assertive, outgoing, loving, kind, generous, adventurous, outspoken and only shared by me with one. I'm so grateful to have you as our mother. Heather and I are so much like you. You have raised us well and have been the perfect role model.

Love you...
#2

What might have been????

He likes playing with Sydney's hair clips, so I put several in his hair today to see what he would have looked like "as a girl". Sooooooooooo cute!!!! He left them in - didn't even seem to bother him.

This was taken while the MIL was here. Again, didn't care that it was on his head.

Eye Pics

He had a blast last night in exam room #15 at TMC's Children's ER. 7:00pm...We got right in when we arrived, flew threw triage and into the room.

Enchanted was playing on the TV up on the wall. He climbed up onto on of the chairs while I got the rails up on the stretcher and got his "space" set up. Got his Cherrios, water and a few toys out. Took out his blanket from home (getting very close to bedtime). He sat on the stretcher for about 30 mins... snacking, laying down, hanging out. Down he went - had to check out all the surroundings. He really like the mirror on the wall and all the horrible stenciled sunflowers & birds on the walls.

He was so well behaved considering he was super tired. When we first got there, the RN gobbed some lidocaine gel on his eyelid so that it wouldn't hurt much when they had to mess with it. An hour later, the MD came in. Of course the gel had crusted the cut shut and she didn't want to mess with it.

Me being, well, me, insisted that it get busted back open, cleaned out and she take a better look at it. 15 minutes later a tech came in, cleaned it off and off she went. The MD came back a little while later. "Yikes, that's a pretty nasty cut and in a very tough place to treat." She said "we don't glue that close to the eye for obvious reasons and I'm a little hesitant about stitching on the lid. With it being in the fold, I'd rather not mess with it." So.... she left us with the "go home and see if it will come together on it's own" option. I was told to keep it clean and put Neosporin on it twice a day and not to let him hit it again because it would pop back open with the slightest of trama to the area. Yeah, she obviously doesn't know him that well.

So, after he fell asleep while waiting for discharge papers, I packed up everything and we headed home. We got back home at 10. I changed him into jammies, gave him his bottle, gobbed medicine on... he passed out in my arms again. Got him settled in his crib around 10:30 only to have him wake up at 12:35. He's done really well today. Staying rather calm and not doing a lot of running/climbing.

The cut looks good though. Red and puffy, but overall, nice. Bruising should be coming in the next few days. He's a champ!

The first of many... ER trip #1

Took Ryan to the ER tonight. Busted his right eyelid open. More to come in the AM... He woke up at 4:23 this morning and didn't go back to sleep until 9:15; now this.

I'm tried.

Nothing...

Ryan woke up at 4:20 this morning. Yes... "damn it" was the first thing to come to mind. After running around for several hours and an hour long walk with Nancee, he finally went to sleep around 10:30 only to be woken up by the loud ass recycling truck. Bastards. He's been a shit since then. Hopefully, after an early dinner and a long bath, he will go to sleep and have a good night.

Good news: I'm back to days tomorrow. So excited about that. I'll be glad to get back to "real nursing". I will only roll my eyes at the PM nurses that I get report from when they say "last night was so terrible". Seriously... they do NOTHING at night compared to the craziness of days. My last night shift sucked so terribly bad. I gave 5 scheduled meds the entire 12 hours shift. I was ready to poke my eyes out by midnight and I had seven hours to go. BORING is an understatement. I will be good to work with all my friends and get back into the swing of a real shift.

The MIL comes this weekend. Sunday thru Friday. Gotta get my house cleaned before then. She's ready to take the kiddos shopping for clothes, make a tasty pot of Jewish Penicillin (matzo ball soup) and the worlds best brisket. We are planning on going to the Pima County Fair on Tuesday afternoon. An uneventful visit, but she enjoys spending time with the kids.

Rick had his last meeting with his cardiologist this afternoon - "all clear". Not a cardiac issue at all, but he does want him to work on getting some of his lab values down. He's been very careful about what he eats since the episode. I think he's down 10-15 lbs in 6 weeks. I guess I should be paying closer attention... God knows I need to drop about 50 pounds.

I'm the new owner of a beautiful porcelain tooth. My crown was put in yesterday and it's gorgeous. Aside for the awful week worth of pain (prior to the unplanned root canal), this extremely unsettling process and been awesome. I case you don't know my dental history it goes a little like this: NOTHING! No cavities, no root canals, no crowns, nothing. That was until my last bundle of joy ruined my perfect record. After having Ryan my teeth went to hell. I've had 4 cavities (two on one tooth. if you can imagine that), a cracked tooth = crown, and a root canal. DEAR LORD... nothing else please! Oh, I have to get a night guard to sleep with now too. Apparently I clinch my teeth very badly at night. No grinding, but severe clinching. Fun times. FYI - if you live with headaches and have really tight upper back/neck muscles... you probably do too. That's where I store all my stress. Blah blah blah... I love my dentist, so I don't mind going back to see him. He's my age and really cool. If you ever need a good one, Gabe is the guy to see.

Need help getting Ryan to eat better. He's a nightmare. Throws his plate on the ground, uses his spoon as a drumstick and still won't drink his milk from a sippy. He's a terrible eater. Grrr..... This kid is my "bad" kid. Loves to scream bloody murder when we tell him no or stop him from doing things. Temper tantrums are just around the corner, I'm sure. Shit...

Party Fun

Julianna & Marissa were here Friday night for a sleepover. They all had a blast! They had the perfect dinner of chicken nuggets & macs 'n cheese then decorated their own mini-cakes (funfetti with strawberry icing, per their request). After all that mess, we did pedicures at the "spa", showers x3, run around and play before popcorn & movie. They all slept through the night with no issues, even though it was raining and hailing during a part of the night. The worst part of the whole night... wake up time @ 5:15... DEAR GOD, what was that crap about? By 6:30 I had all three in my room saying "we're starving", so up I got to make chocolate chip pancakes for the little angels. After breakfast we had an easter egg hunt in the house, then manicures and even more running around/playing/dress-up. Deb came and got them about 12. Here's where the fun part starts... Sydney goes to take a nap around 3:00. Around 4:30, she runs in to the living room screaming and crying "I just puked all over the place". We both took off running to her room - yeap, puke everywhere. Big, giant clumps of half chewed elbow noodles in red vomit on her pillow, blanket, quilt, and her new Hannah Montana dress up outfit that Granny got her. Off to the shower she went with Rick and I drug everything to the kitchen to scoop all the nasty stuff off before going in the washer. FUN TIMES... not! She was loaded up with Pepto, crackers and Gatorade. Fell asleep for a little while, watched TV, and just kinda bonded with the loveseat. Poor kid - looked miserable. That night the bed was remade, with beach towels over all the possible puke targets. Bucket at her side, she went to sleep around 7:30. Uneventful night... no breakfast, 2 nuggets for lunch, hardly anything for dinner. She goes for her 6 yr check-up today @ 1:30, so we'll see what to do about the poor appetite.

Birthday Girl

Yesterday was a super busy day for us....fun, fast, exciting! A good birthday for Sydney.

• school - as you can see, she was given a "crown" from her teacher (worn ALL day) and her name was announced over the PA during the morning a pledge/news/menu thing. She was excited about getting a "Happy Birthday from your Principal" pencil too.
  

• homework/Girl Scout stuff
  
• lunch (nuggets & fresh fruit) at Hacienda del Lago
  
• shopping spree @ Target!!! It was a lot of fun watching her go up and down every aisle looking for things she wanted. She always hears "no" from us, so this had her super excited. Notice a common theme in the things she picked out???? We love Aunt Denise & Nanny (Heather).
  

Yes, she fell asleep like that. She needed to rest up before heading back out!

• Girl Scout meeting - planted flowers & veggies. Had cupcakes too...
  

• dinner with the neighbor's - "Rick-fil-A"
• presents - Sydney received lots of great things this year. Games (board, Wii, think) & clothes were the majority We've already played Guess Who & Hungry, Hungry, Hippo. And seriously...damn Chinese crap. They make games real pieces of shit now-a-days. When playing HHH, we had to be careful not to hit the hippos to hard or they would get stuck or the head would get all jacked up. Remember playing that as a kid and being able to smash that thing - no more! Was tons of fun though. Oh, and the "marbles"... yeah, not marbles anymore. Weird plastic ball thingys. Grrr... She's watched her iCarly DVD's and, of course, we've all listened to the new Hannah Montana "The Movie" soundtrack! She's anxious to use the Pixos tomorrow.
  

• cake & icecream

Ended up with SpongeBob because I waited until MONDAY to order the stupid thing and they were out of the Hannah Montana things. She freaked out when we picked it up after scouts yesterday. "Oh man... that's AWESOME! I love it.... sweet" were just a few things she shouted in the bakery area at Fry's. She was excited about being able to lick the icing off the giant S-Bob bendy toy. Life is soooooo easy when you are six.

Rick is taking her to see Monsters vs. Aliens 3D tomorrow and I get to take her to see Hannah Montana: The Movie next week. Her 6 year check-up is on Monday. Curious to see how much she's grown in the last year.

@ 5:42 pm

SIX years ago my daughter was born. 6 lbs 11 0z. 18" long.

She's funny, super smart, stubborn, friendly, curious, wacky, busy little girl. We love her tons and have loved watching her grow. More to come...

How cute is this????

Nancee mentioned these finds on her blog today. I love them. I used some of my great-grandmothers buttons to make candle holders while in design school - this is much better.

Me & the Kids

From San Diego...

More to come from the trip later!

Average Joe

Aside from his every growing need to kill himself, Ryan is sitting right in the middle of everything. We had his 15m well-baby check yesterday: 25.4 lbs (50-75%), 31" tall (50%) and is head is 47 cm (50%). On top of his shots yesterday, while at the MD's office, he climbed up onto Dr. Auerbach's stool while waiting in nothing but his diaper and a great big smile. Gave the MD a good giggle when he saw it - that was until he found out he got himself up there. He has also figured out how to get off the neighbor's trampoline by himself.... scary! As I shake my head in disbelief, I can only wonder what the heck he will do next. My next mission - the bottle fight. The kid refuses to drink his milk from anything other than a bottle. I've tried 4 or 5 different cups and he just throws it to the floor.... grrrrrrrr! Suggestions?

Sorry about this unsteadness of this one... :(




He also likes blowing bubbles in his bath water now.

Fear him.... yes, we should!

My thanks to Nancee for her post this morning. "We the People" need to be very cautious during these insanely chaotic times in our nation's history. Devious things are happening and what makes me cringe, is that there are some people out there that agree with the madness. This has the making of an incomprehensible travesty. And to think, it began because of an action by majority of our fellow citizens. SCARY... thanks for that vote & beginning the downfall our our great nation.

Thanks G--L / 25 Things

First, I have to thank Girl for the yummies she made for Ryan. I got them today and he LOVES them. Even Erika, he's girlfriend from next door, loves them. They were both pretending to eat the cookies. Sydney says "these are soooooooo cute!" I told Nancee that she's gotta check out the rest of Girl's great goodies! By the way - packaging is fantastic Girl.


Next: She tagged me.
Some of these are from my FB thing - modified or edited...

1. I have absolutely ZERO patience for stupidity or irresponsiblity.
2. I miss living and working in Houston. I left an amazing job and a good life to be out here with Rick. I think I could still name all of the people I used to work with.
3. I can't wait to travel the world - anyone up for a few trips? Indonesia is going to be one of my first stops. I miss my friend Stan. Thank God for FB.
4. People that manipulate, obsess, lie and pry - hate them.
5. Yes, I have no issue with using and saying I "hate" you/someone/something. Sometimes it's the only way to deal with it. And,yes, I know it's a "bad word."
6. My favorite movie(s) is My Fair Lady & Breakfast at Tiffany's. There's just something about Audrey Hepburn that is mesmerizing.
7. I just started to read books in the last couple of years. I still don't like doing it, but I know I should. I've really enjoyed the Harry Potter series.
8. I was suspended from middle school twice... don't ask! High school... once. Called the band director a dick-head and he heard me. Got an "in school suspension" for that one.
9. I battled severe PPD for over eight months before getting help. Looking back on it, it was a very dark time for me. Most people will never know the depths of the darkness. I keep the really nasty stuff to myself. The person I was before having Sydney is no longer around. I miss her sometimes, but am happy with who I am now.
10. Don't blame me for your inability to communicate. If you can't tell the truth, shut the hell up! Lies are always told and secrets are never really kept secret.
11. I grew up in a very small town outside of New Orleans. My childhood was fabulous. I miss my home. I was devastated when my parents moved and sold the house. I keep a jar of dirt from the backyard on my desk and look at it all the time. Thanks to Dad, I'll always have Ama with me. I cry thinking about it. I don't think I'll ever go back there again and that makes me sad.
12. I don't believe in soul mates. I also don't believe in love at first sight. What does that mean?
13. Disneyworld is the most magical place in the world. I look forward to taking the kids there with my parents, sister & her family.
14. I'm super excited about the Academy Awards tomorrow night. The part that sucks - never having seen any of the movies nominated. I seriously need to get out more.
15. My sister and mother both thought I was kidding when I told then I was pregnant with Sydney. Neither of them thought I would ever have kids. Oddly enough, I never really wanted to have children. Now that I have two, I love them both.
16. I don't like, nor have I ever liked, living in Arizona. The only good thing to come of it - friends. I have a group of ladies in my life that ROCK! And no humidity.
17. I had no issues with dying until I became a mother. I still don't have "issues", just don't want them to grow up without me around. I don't understand why some people have problems talking about dying - heeellllllooooo... we all have to do it!
18. Speaking of my two kids and dying... my kids are Arkansas bound if Rick & I kick the bucket. Thankfully Heather (sister) has a great big house lots of acres.
19. I used to love riding roller coasters. The faster & scarier the better... not so much now! I think my inner child ran away when I turned 21. Chickenshit.
20. I could eat gummy bears, sweet tarts or salt & vinegar potato chips until I was on the verge of vomiting. They are some of my favorite junk foods. I also can sit with a mason jar full of Jelly Belly's on my desk for weeks and never eat one. How retarded is that?
21. I am an organ donor. I've also had a Living Will since I was 18 years old. If you don't have a Living Will, get one! We, the medical profession, will do awful things to you if you don't have something in writing. And on that note - get a Medical Power of Attorney. Nancee, you will be updating my stuff as soon as you pass the AZ Bar.
22. My grandmother died several years ago. Her death caused my father to cry in front of me. That was heartbreaking. She was not a good grandmother the older I got. Children will always know how you really feel and what you really think of them. They hear and see everything. No child should ever feel like she made me feel.
23. I wish I remembered how to crochet. My grandmother (#22) taught me how as a very little girl. The only thing I wanted when she died was her set of crochet hooks. I can knit, but not brave enough to make anything that requires a stitch that's not a purl or knit. Lazyass.
24. Sydney and my dad are fishing buddies. It makes my heart smile to see them together sitting on the bank of his neighbor's pond with poles in the water. "Pops, can we go fish?"
25. My mother is brave, strong, kind, honest, demanding, generous, trustworthy, loving and the most outspoken person in the world. She is the perfect role model and I hope I am just like her. Don't cross her though... she may forgive but will never forget. I hope I make her proud!

You'd never know it

Based on his actions, you'd never know Ryan has a pretty nasty double ear infection. He was "back to normal" after we left Dr. Auerbach's office yesterday morning and hasn't looked back. He was climbing on the table just as quickly this afternoon. He has not cried once, other than his usual pissed off ones, since before leaving for the doctor's office. He's doing great. We haven't had to give him his ear drops or Motrin since yesterday afternoon. He still loves his medicine, but will only take about 1/2 tsp at a time - runs around the house in between his sips. And...he slept just fine last night. So, off to the Phoenix Zoo tomorrow with another RN from work. Sydney gets to play hookie. More to come later...

Double

After waking up around 4:15 this morning and listening to Ryan scream & cry for about 5 hours straight - a double ear infection was the diagnosis from Dr. Auerbach. So, Amoxil BID x 10 days and ear drops for pain. Nice.

Wait no longer...

For the good news, click HERE!

Good news coming today...

Check back soon.

1056

Today I picked up 88 cases of Girl Scout cookies. In each case, there are 12 boxes of yummies. Yeap, the math adds up to 1, 056 boxes. Although it only took 7 minutes to get the boxes loaded into my friends van, it took me several hours to sort and distribute them amongst the girls. After I finished all that, I labeled each of the 230 boxes that were Sydney's. My dining room table was full - one side PD cookies, one side hospital cookies and friends and neighbors in the middle. Mom's 3 cases are stacked under the coffee table for now. I had to open 34 cases to get the orders right... my hands and fingers hurt right now. But on the good side - they all get picked up tomorrow!!! Thank God I only have 6 girls.

We hadn't even finished unloading then before he took to climbing.
Starting to sort out each girl's order.

Sydney's boxes...

Thanks again to everyone that ordered from her. She's anxious to get them out to you!