Trip to Indiana

We are home and back in the swing of things after a quick trip to Indiana. This will be our only family vacation this year and it was plenty. I won't need to fly for a while...not with Kaylin on my lap, anyway!

Mike's grandmother is 89 and we haven't visited for a couple of years. His grandfather passed away last summer and he was concerned that she might soon follow, as married couples often do. As it turns out, she's in excellent health, so this may not be the last time he sees her. If all goes well, we'll return again with the kids in another few years.

Ryan stayed with Mike's parents while we packed up and took Kaylin with us. That doesn't sound like much of a chore, but for 3 days before our trip, Mike and I both had a nasty stomach virus. Mine was about a day behind his, so he was responsible for frantically packing up all 4 of us and planning things like long term parking, road maps and itineraries. He felt better long before I did...my stomach still isn't completely healed. I've only had a meal or two without feeling nauseous right afterward.

Flying for 4 hours with a 2 hour layover with a 1 year old is tough. When you're sick, it's awful. Completely awful. Poor Kaylin slept a total of 15 minutes (normally takes 2 naps that are 2 hours each) all day on Tuesday. She was overtired, bored and squirmy the whole flight to Cincinnati and Mike had to deal with it almost all on his own.

Overall, the trip was nice. We visited the Notre Dame campus, enjoyed spending time with Mike's family, had some great quality time with Kaylin, soaked up the beautiful 75 degree temperatures, saw a few autumn-leaved trees scattered around and Mike got to visit his grandfather's grave site. Ryan did very well without us for 5 days, but we missed him like crazy and the kids missed each other SO much. They've been inseparable since our return. I guess it's nice to get away from the daily grind every now and then, but this ol' Kansas girl will be the first to say, "There's no place like home!!!"

I just went upstairs for a minute!

Okay, fine. I was actually upstairs for a FEW minutes. I heard the kids playing together, giggling and obviously entertaining themselves, so I spent some time getting tasks done without little people at my feet. When I returned downstairs, the kids were no where to be found, yet I could hear them. I opened the pantry door (we have the luxury of a walk-in pantry) and this is what I found, plus a little red-head crawling around. Kaylin found a full, yet open, package of spaghetti and thought it would be fun to sprinkle it as far as the eye could see. After transferring them both to the play room to clean it up, I called Ryan back in for a picture. I need to start keeping a photo journal of all of their mischief, because I have a feeling there are many, many more instances to come. Click on the picture to enlarge it and see more of the mess, though there were tons of dry noodles behind Ryan and in nooks and crannies throughout the pantry.

On a side note, do you ever vacuum and feel crumbs ricochet off of the wheels of the vacuum and hit you in the feet? I made the decision to vacuum, not sweep, the spaghetti and was pelted with pieces as they were snapped and spit all over the kitchen. Note to self: a broom may be more cumbersome, but it's far less painful and apparently more affective.

A week in my life...and in my head.

If you need a good laugh or are bored out of your mind, read on. I recently saw a great idea in a scrapbook magazine to record "A week in my life." (Please don't think I'm completely neurotic. It really didn't take that long; maybe 5-10 minutes a couple of times a day to type everything out.)

As I jotted down details of each day, I realized how many hilarious little things Ryan says and does that I don't record. After committing to document the daily happenings of my life for a week, I had to share some funny moments with you. Nothing is exaggerated in this blog and there are dozens of little Ryan-isms that I forgot along the way.

The week begins...Tuesday, September 11, 20076:45am Why is Ryan in our room? He’s not supposed to be out of bed until 7:00. Mike’s getting for work and doesn’t seem to care that Ryan is speaking very loudly. I guess it’s time for me to get up, too.
7:00am Ryan set his clothes on our bed “like Daddy did” and walked around in his underwear until Mike was ready to get dressed. He wanted to get dressed, “together.”
8:30am Mike heads off to work, the kids proceed to spill dry Cheerios all over the floor and eat them. Ryan was eating them with his tongue because he “wants to be like a vacuum.” How sanitary.
8:45am Took Ryan to pre-school…his second day!
9:00am Brought Kaylin home and put her to bed. I wanted to get the car washed and go to Walmart (because she’s really low on diapers), but she was yawning and fussy during the drive. This is now typical of her recent behavior in the car.
11:45am Daddy’s home! We all ate lunch together and talked about what Ryan did at school. (painted, played with water, learned to take turns asking kids their names and welcoming them in circle time) I’m so glad Kaylin’s finally eating again. She’s hardly consumed any real calories (outside of milk and Cheerios) in the last week. I think she’s getting some teeth.
12:15pm Put together a craft with Ryan. (while Kaylin unloaded the mini loaf pans from a lower cabinet and threw them all over the kitchen) After 10 minutes or so, he decided it was more fun to cut the tissue paper with me than it was to assemble the craft. Whatever keeps his attention, I guess.
12:30pm Ryan crawled around after Kaylin, imitating her every move and sound. Literally, everything. Pointing and "talking," huffing and puffing, peeking around corners, it was hilarious. Kaylin would do it, Ryan would shadow her. I should have busted out the video camera.
1:00pm I pulled out a string and beads and Ryan and I practiced our fine motor skills. Kaylin cried the entire time because she wanted to play, too. Of course, the beeds are a choking hazzard, so we gave up and watched Curious George.
1:30pm Naptime!
5:45pm Mike came home from work and took the kids to the mailbox; Ryan on his tricycle, Kaylin in the wagon.
6:00pm Time for dinner. Ryan “doesn’t like it,” but hasn’t tasted it yet. Kaylin’s eating pretty well.
6:50pm Threw the kids in the tub. Noticed that Kaylin’s hair is getting really long (it seems longer by the day) and she sweats pretty bad when she sleeps, so we should really wash it every day. Once in the tub, I hear our friends arrive downstairs (they’re 10 minutes early!) and said, “Let’s hurry, Ryan. Your friend, Bridgette, is here.” He said (with a straight face), “I don’t like Bridgette so much.” I explained (quietly) that he should only say those things privately and that saying them in front of her or when she’s nearby will hurt her feelings. He repeated in a whisper, “But I don’t like her so much.”
7:00pm Kaylin to bed, Ryan in PJs, head downstairs to hang out with our friends.
7:45pm Ryan yells from the playroom, “Mommy, I don’t like Bridgette!” Charming.
8:00pm I asked Ryan to put on a Pull Up and go to bed, but he wants to wear underwear tonight. We’ll see how that goes.
10:00pm On the way upstairs, I noticed that the light coming from under Kaylin’s door (her nightlight) is unusually bright. I open the door and her lamp is on. I was in such a hurry to get downstairs that I didn’t turn off the bedroom light!!! She had to fall asleep with the light on, poor thing!

Wednesday, September 12, 2007
5:42am Woke up to go to the bathroom. Realized that I should check on Ryan to see if his sheets needed to be changed, but by the time I got to the hall, he was already up and on his way to his bathroom. His pants were dry!!! I was shocked.
6:11am Can’t fall back to sleep, so I decide to get up and go hike. Too late; Mike’s already up and getting dressed for the gym. Bummer.
9:30am Picked up the kids from Kids Club at the gym and learned that Ryan spit on his friend, Caleb, and hit him over the head with a giraffe toy repeatedly until Caleb started crying. He was put in time out and Caleb didn’t want to play with him anymore. I was mortified and completely dumbfounded about why he acted out like that. The workers said he seemed pretty hyper and was confused that what he did was wrong. I hope pre-school isn't having a negative affect on him!
10:00am After punishing him, I talked to Ryan about the fact that he’s not allowed to spit (he knows this rule well) and that we don’t hit in our family. I also explained that he hurt Caleb’s feelings (and his head) and that Caleb is scared to play with him now. He seemed to understand and seemed a little sad.Thursday, September 13, 20077:00am Kids up, dressed and fed.
7:45am Aaaaah! Kaylin only has 3 diapers left! I didn't have time for this today! Went to Wal-mart.
8:30am Raced home to drop off cold groceries, leaving kids in the air conditioned car.
9:00am Dropped Ryan at pre-school.
9:30am Stopped at Kohl’s and bought a shirt, jeans and a clearance swim suit.
10:00am Went to a friend’s house to swim, put Kaylin down for a nap. I got to socialize in the pool with friends and NO kids of my own to watch!!!
11:08am Woke up Kaylin, packed up and started driving to pick up Ryan.
11:11am As Kaylin sat in the backseat saying, “Mmmma! Mmmmmmaaa!” - which means “milk," I realized that I forgot her milk in Kelly’s fridge. I wasn’t about to listen to her cry the whole 20 minute drive, so I turned around to get the sippy cup. Great. Now I’m going to be really late.
11:38am Pulled in to pick up Ryan…I was 8 minutes late! Trying to run holding Kaylin was impossible. Ryan was the last one sitting in his class. I apologized profusely to Ryan's teacher…she didn’t look amused.
12:00pm Finished unpacking the diapers and dry groceries from the car, put away hand-me-down clothes my friend gave me for Kaylin.

10:00pm Came home from our date night. My mom had some funny stories about Ryan. She wanted to pray with him and he said, “You say the dead one and Grandma Barb says the angels one.” She didn’t know what that meant, so he explained that Grandma Barb prays, “Now I lay me down to sleep…” with “…and angels watch me through the night…” instead of “if I should die before I wake…” Then when she explained that they were going to pray to Jesus this time, he asked if she could call him on the phone. The other funny tradition that she's started with him is that she makes up bedtime stories including, “Once upon a time…” with characters like Prince Ryan, Princess Kaylin, Queen Mommy and King Daddy. If only I were as creative!

Friday, September 14, 2007
6:30am Woke up with butterflies…today is the scrapbook convention and I have a day all to myself!!!
7:00am Got kids up, dressed and fed.
8:00am Left for the convention. Mike took the day off work so I could play all day. Bless him!
4:00pm Met Becky Higgins. (if you don’t scrapbook, you won’t know, care or understand how wonderfully talented she is)
9:30pm Unpacked bags from the convention, downloaded pictures, fell into bed completely exhausted.

Saturday, September 15, 2007
7:00am Woke up to Ryan 3 inches from my face mouthing (with no sound), “Mommy, wake up!”
7:15am Everyone got up, dressed and fed. Mike wanted pancakes, even though I wanted to eat oatmeal and be healthy. I made him and Ryan pancakes since he was so great and watched the kids all day yesterday.
1:30pm Mike asked for my help with a dirty diaper. There was an explosion. Kaylin hasn’t had a blow out in 6-8 months! Now that she’s crawling, this was a huge mess. It came out of her diaper cover and every time she sat somewhere to play, it got on the carpet or tile. Mike and I stuck her in the kitchen sink to bathe her and cleaned up the playroom, kitchen floor and family room. What a mess!!!

Sunday, September 16, 2007
6:00am Heard a door close really hard…Ryan’s new trick for waking us up without “technically” leaving his room before 7am.
7:00am Ryan walks into our bathroom in just his underwear (like Daddy) and his clothes. Mike worked with him on buttoning his shirt. He looked up at me and said, “Mommy, can I have some space?” That’s what I’ve suggested he say instead of, “Go away,” or “Mommy, leave.”
9:00am Sat down to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse with Ryan. He asked for some “space” again. Went upstairs to print pictures for scrapbooking.
1:15pm At naptime, explained to Ryan that I want him to try really hard not to suck his thumb anymore. Explained that his teeth are getting bad.
4:00pm Ryan and his friend, Bryce (who was over for dinner with his parents), came downstairs with paint on their hands and shirts. Ryan also had paint on the tops of his feet and carefully painted on all 10 toes.
7:30pm Put bandaids on Ryan’s thumbs to keep him from sucking them.
8:00pm Ryan called me into his room and said, “Mommy, I don’t like these Band Aids. Can you put them on my toes?” Explained (again) why they’re there.

Monday, September 17, 2007
6:50am Ryan came bouncing into our room. “I didn’t suck my thumb last night!” but the Band Aids were off. I told him how proud I was. He said, “Yeah, I went like this,” and sucked his first three fingers. Later, he told Mike that he sucked his toe. I don't think he's flexible enough to lay down with his toe in his mouth for any length of time, but I'm sure he tried. All I know is that he didn’t suck his thumbs. He said he took the Band Aids off this morning b/c he was going to eat breakfast soon. He’s very truthful (whether it benefits him or not), so I believed him.
9:45am Drove to Jessica’s house for a baking day. In the car, I quizzed Ryan about how he would act during the play date. “Will you take turns with Reagan?” “Yes.” “Will you hit?” “No! We don’t hit our friends.” “Will you have tantrums?” “No.” “Will you listen and obey?” “Yes.”
1:45pm Arrived home. Put kids to bed, Ryan with Band Aids on his thumbs. He cried because his “thumbs were in the way.”
3:45pm Ryan came downstairs with no Band Aids. I asked if he sucked his thumb at bedtime? He happily answered, “Yes!”

Tuesday, September 18, 2007
11:15am Picked up Ryan at school…he was covered in paint on his arms, legs, socks and clothes. (read blog from earlier today for details)
1:30pm Put Ryan to bed with nail biting polish on his thumbs. He said he didn’t need the Band Aids b/c he doesn’t suck his thumbs in bed, I put on the polish just to be sure. He cried and moaned for a while in bed. I put the polish on my pinky and tasted it…it’s nasty.
3:10pm Ryan was moving around upstairs, obviously awake. Gave Kaylin some of Ryan’s Almond Butter and Jelly sandwich. Within a minute, her whole face has a rash. I called Mike and it wasn’t almond butter, but peanut butter. GREAT! It was an allergic reaction. (read blog from earlier today for details)
3:20pm Went upstairs and told Ryan to lay in bed until the big hand is on the 6. He says he slept, but he can barely keep his eyes open. He says he doesn’t like “the yucky stuff” on his thumbs.
3:35pm Checked on Ryan, he’s out cold.
5:45pm Walked down to the park to join Mike and the kids and heard Kaylin coughing. Mike suddenly seems anxious to get Ryan off the slide and back home. As I approached, I realized that Kaylin had thrown up all over the little red wagon. I grab the handle, haul her home, put her in the sink and hose her down, clothes and all. It seems that she got it all out of her system.

7:00pm At dinner, Kaylin picks up her plate of fruit and it slams down on the table. I tapped her hand firmly with my fingers and said, "Kaylin, NO." She did it 2-3 more times, testing, and smiled broadly when I praised her for obeying the rule. Then suddenly, after a tap, she turned to Mike and wacked him on the arm. I had to turn my head to keep from laughing out loud. Monkey see, monkey do! Is this isn't an indicator of the years I have ahead of me with this little girl?

I hope you enjoyed a week in my life. I left out (most of) the mundane stuff, so I wouldn't bore you. As I recorded all of this, I thought, "This was a pretty eventful week to have done this project!" But in reality, this is my life. I might not give Kaylin peanuts or meet Becky Higgins every week, but every week is a new adventure for me. Rarely do I have a boring day...

So THAT'S what happens when Kaylin eats peanuts!

After Kaylin's nap today, I got lazy with her snack and gave her some of Ryan's unfinished almond butter and jelly sandwich from lunch. Within 90 seconds, there was a rash on her face. I called Mike (who made the sandwich) and asked if he made it with almond butter or peanut butter. Sure enough, it was peanut butter. We found out when she was 5 months old that Kaylin's allergic to peanuts.

I called the triage nurse at our pediatrician and she suggested that I give her Benadryl and watch for signs of swollen lips, a closed throat or trouble breathing and call 911 if any of those occur. She hadn't eaten much, but I totally felt like I screwed up. I really thought Mike pulled out the almond butter when he made Ryan's sandwich!!! Kaylin's voice became pretty raspy, but soon after taking the Benadryl (thank goodness we had some in the house!), the rash began to disappear.

After work, Mike took the kids to the park down the street. As I walked down to join them, I heard Kaylin coughing and heard Mike calling for Ryan to hurry and follow him home. Kaylin had projectile vomited ALL over herself and the wagon. I helped get the kids home and give Kaylin a bath and that seemed to be the end of the peanuts. In hindsight, the wagon was a great place for her to get sick. A quick hose-down and the mess was gone! (there's a silver lining in every situation...)

My little Picasso

I love Ryan's preschool. They let the kids get dirty, explore, dig in the sand for "buried treasure" (ie golf balls, plastic bugs and other treats) and play with the sloppiest, messiest craft supplies in existence. Glitter, paint, glue, barrels of water, you name it. Last week they even baked granola bars from scratch. Today, this is how I picked him up from school...covered in paint. A true sign that he had fun. It was on his arms, legs, face, clothes and shoes. Everywhere but his hair. I found a treasure of my own when I took his shoes off...they were filled with sand that was soon all over the hallway. A small price to pay for him to do things I'm too uptight to let him do at home. I love his preschool!!!

An apple orchard in the DESERT!

Who would have thought that apples could grow in the dessert? About an hour and a half northwest of us, there's a growing, thriving ranch that harvests apples, peaches and pears. I would have thought the elevation would be higher and the temperatures lower than in Phoenix, but no. It was still REALLY hot! Not the crisp, fall weather I'm used to experiencing during apple season in the midwest.

Kaylin was pretty tired after the long drive up there, but we tried to include her as much as possible. Some of the apples were teeny, tiny. If you think about how small a one year old's hand is, you'll get an idea of how miniature the apple in her hand (at right) really was.

Ryan had a blast. We met some of our friends (and his) up there and all picked apples together. We all ate several along the way and gathered some of the fallen apples to feed the horses on our way out. We didn't see any pears and the peaches were long gone last month, but we brought home TONS of apples.

Mike was so focused on the task at hand while I chatted with friends, took pictures and enjoyed watching everyone else. He was truly on a mission. 35 lbs of apples later...!! I'll be cooking, baking, and canning for weeks. Applesauce, anyone?

Ryan's 1st Day at Preschool

When I dropped Ryan off for his first day of preschool this morning, I almost started crying…twice! He was such a big boy...didn't shed a tear or even care that I was leaving. He seemed to have a great day. He came home with green paint on his face and wanted me to ask him question after question to recall what he did throughout the morning. Seriously...after he was done answering one of my questions, I was quiet for a minute and he said, "Mom-meeeeeeeee! Ask me another question!" I didn't like the attitude behind his demand, but I had to laugh inside. He wanted to be interrogated about his activities.

Check out the pic from May 14th (his last day of the Mom’s Day Out program he attended last year) and the pic from today (both below) to see how much he’s grown this summer. Look at where his head is on the door panel! I’m still in disbelief that it looks like he's grown 3 inches in less than 4 months. Click on the pictures to enlarge...the one from this morning was so cute. He was genuinely excited and I got a REAL smile out of him!!!

Ryan's 1st Baseball Game

Mike, his dad and his brother took Ryan to his first baseball game last night. He had a blast! When he arrived, he met a big Red Robin and got a souvenir bird toy. That thrilled him. Then later, the bird walked though the stands and stopped to dance with Ryan. It's all he talked about when they got home. He's been carrying around his toy bird all day, reminding us that he danced with the "other big bird" (not to be confused with Sesame Street's Big Bird) and showing us how they danced together. Apparently, it was so cute that other people were even taking pictures of them dancing! (Should I be freaked out by that?!?!?) Watching him reenact the twisting, bending and jumping is hilarious each and every time he does it. He's so animated, yet so serious about showing me what I missed...he cracks me up!