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Thursday, July 31, 2008

2-month checkup!

My little chunky monkey is in fact a chunky monkey! He's now 23 in. long and weighs 12lbs 4 oz! He's in the 90th percentile for his weight!

Ryan is still so gassy and fussy all the time, so I went ahead and talked to his doctor about it again. She switched his formula to a soy-based one last time, thinking that he just had a milk allergy. That hasn't helped one bit, so she gave us some samples of Alimentum, which is a hypo-allergenic formula. She thinks he has an allergy to one of the components of normal formula. I'm supposed to call her on Monday to let her know if it helped. If so, we get to deal with the $30 a bottle vs $14 with normal formula. (yay *sarcasm*) If not, she's going to refer him to a gastroenterologist to make sure there's nothing more serious going on.

He also has an umbilical hernia which may need surgery to fix. At this point, she says it's not necessary; his stomach muscles are still developing and may fix the problem on its own. If not, at his 4 month checkup, she'll go ahead and schedule him for surgery. :-(

Today, he also got his first immunizations besides the one they gave him when he was born. He was NOT happy! I thought I was prepared since I have already been through it with Dalton, not to mention Ryan screams constantly day and night. I was wrong! I have NEVER heard him scream that badly at all! I almost cried myself. :-(

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Big weekend!

It felt like I was going nonstop this weekend! Like I said in my last post, we went out to eat with Dean's family Friday night and visited with them for a little bit over at his mom's house. Yesterday morning, I ran Ryan out to my mom's house (WAYYYYYYY out on the northwest side of town off of 290) so that Dean and I could have some time together.





Dalton, of course, was with his dad. It was nice to be ALONE for a while! lol It doesn't happen all that often anymore. Dean really wanted to see The Dark Knight, so later that afternoon, we went to Star Cinema and Grill. I haven't been there since a few months after I moved to Houston with Jeanie and Ashli. Dean hadn't been there at all, so it kind of fun to do something different. :-) It was actually a pretty good movie. I'm not really a fan of all the "Superhero" movies like Batman, Spiderman, Superman, etc. They usually bore me and wind of being a bit campy, but this one was so far from the "typical" comic-book Batman, that I was a bit surprised at how diverse and deep it wound up being.


Today, I'm kind of going it alone. lol Dean's brother, Tim, bought him tickets to go see Slipknot and a bunch of other bands that are playing this afternoon. When the tickets were purchased months ago, I decided to stay home. I didn't figure I'd have the energy for it. lol I'm a little irritated now that feel fine! lol Dalton and his dad went to the park earlier to play and feed the ducks, so I made it a laundry day. Kind of boring, but it needed to be done! I picked Ryan up a little earlier, so now all I need to do is go the store later and get some groceries. :-)


Saturday, July 26, 2008

The big 3-0!!! My baby's getting old!

Yep, Dean is officially 30 years old! He pretended to ignore the number today, though! lol I guess denial is all you can do with something major like that! I remember 25 was a hard birthday for me psychologically; I can't imagine what 30 is like! lol I'll be there someday, so I don't want to really think about it!


We didn't do a whole lot earlier today. We pretty much made all our plans for Saturday since Dean usually sleeps during the day. He wound up staying up all day though. :-( Poor thing was exhausted by the time he crawled into bed about 11pm!


His parents took us out to eat for his birthday along with his brother-Tim, his sister-Rebecca, and his niece and nephew-Caleb and Lizzie. After that, we went back to their house to visit and let them play with Ryan for a bit. :-) Of course, Ryan fussed most of the time he was awake, but Dean's mom-Marla seems to have the magic touch! He just LOVES to sleep in her arms! :-) All she wants him to do is to wake up and talk to her, but he's not all that cooperative! lol We finally left when Dean started to pass out on the couch, and of course, as soon as we got him in the car, he woke up and started screaming. Totally figures...lol






Thursday, July 24, 2008

Dalton's dad...

...is here in Houston. I'm so happy for Dalton that he has his dad back! Brian's done a lot of work straightening out his life, and I can only hope that it stays that way.

I am definitely happy to have my stuff back! Most of it's been in storage since I left Columbus almost 3 years ago! It was always easier to keep it there since I had been moving from state to state with my job. Since, I made the decision to stay in Houston, I've been trying to figure out a way to get it back, but the conclusions were always too much of a pain in the ass! Brian agreed to haul it down here with his stuff when he moved, so at least I have it back, even if it WAS so long! lol

I had completely forgotten how much CRAP I have! lol I have absolutely no idea what to do with all this! A lot of it is just going to hit the trash, but there was so much I was glad to have back!

- The paintings my mamaw did before she died. Those are priceless to me!
- My jewelry box and jewelry. Surprisingly, it was all still there! Not that Brian would have taken it, but I didn't expect it all to be there...small things get lost easily. lol Of course, all my silver is tarnished as hell, but that's easy to fix.
- All my memory stuff from high school: My letter jacket (and all the patches and letters that still need to be sewn onto it), all my yearbooks, my Senior memory book, my pictures, all the awards I won in all the various organizations I was in (TSA, NHS, NFL, Band, "Spotlight"-a show-choir, Speech team, One-Act, etc ) my graduation cap, diploma, and honor cords...nothing that I couldn't live without, but it was special to me as part of history, a part of my memory.
- All my picture frames from Dalton's room when he was born, and a lot of the stuff that was in his room (most of the toys I'm sending with Brian to his house..lol)
- My tempurpedic bed!!!!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!! I've missed the HELL out of that bed! It did wonders for my back when I bought it!

There were some odd things in there, as well, that I had forgotten that I had!
- My wedding dress from my 1st marriage to Jessie. lol I can't believe I saved that anyways! That's going to hit E-bay as soon as I can get it cleaned and steamed! lol
- A lot of my maternity clothes from when I was pregnant with Dalton...I could have used those! lol

It was just nice over all to see my stuff again! Even if some of it's worthless to me at this point in time, I'm definitely appreciative of Brian bringing it down here at cost to him! It kind of felt like Christmas! lol

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

The new car!...or truck...or whatever you want to call it!

We've been needing a new car for a LONG time! Ever since we found out I was pregnant, basically! lol At the time, both of our cars were only 2 door, and the car seats wouldn't fit in Dean's car at all. Dalton fit in my car just fine, but it was always awkward when Dean was in the car too. I imagine he has a hard time fitting into a lot of cars!



We finally sold Dean's car since it was basically worthless to us....we could never go anywhere together in it. It was just WAY too small. Not to mention, we were pouring hundreds of dollars into it to fix various things just to have something else break the next month!



We've had to make due with my car since Ryan was born. Again, it's been kind of awkward. The whole family just can't fit into it together! So we got this....


... a 2003 Honda Element. It kind of sucks on gas mileage of course, but it's everything we need! If you've ever looked inside one of these things, it has a completely plastic interior (excepts for the seats). Even the floor is plastic. It's basically meant to be hosed out when it's dirty. Literally. lol As in hook up a garden hose and spray the damn thing out! Hilarious, huh? I needed that just for Dalton and his propensity for making everything he touches dirty! And when you're dealing with car seats, the suicide doors help a LOT! With 2 kids...3 if you count Dean, it's a huge timesaver! lol

We don't intend to make it our main vehicle since it only gets 22 mpg. Dean's now driving my car to and from work, and any time either of us needs to do anything, we'll still go in that one. However, any time we need to go somewhere with the kids, the Element is the only one we CAN take! I actually had to run some errands today with the kids and it was SOOOOO nice being able to do them in comfort! lol

Tiny footprints

Dean and I finally got around to putting Ryan's footprints in his baby book....finally! lol Normally, they do it in the hospital when they're born if you ask them. For some reason, they didn't when Ryan was born. I never even really thought about it until we got home. Surprisingly, Ryan cooperated a little bit, lol, which helped because I thought for sure I was going to screw it up!


Dalton's footprints were done in the hospital the day he was born. He had some huge feet for a newborn! lol Ryan's were teeny tiny. Once we inked Ryan's into the book, I compared them with Dalton's and I was shocked to find that Ryan's feet now (at almost 2 months) are only a centimeter larger than Dalton's were when he was born!

I know it's kind of hard to compare off of a picture, but at least the one below gives you an idea of it! Ryan's prints are on top, and Dalton's on bottom. :-)

Monday, July 21, 2008

Check out my Slide Show!

Dalton's Donkey

At church, all the kids got to play with play-dough. I don't let Dalton have it here at the house for a couple of reasons: 1.)It gets ground into the carpet. 2.) I remember all the insane ways my brother and I used to get into trouble with it when we were little. 3.)I never figured Dalton would ever do anything with it other than squeeze it.


I was completely surprised when he brought a creation home with him that he calls "a donkey." From what my mom says is it actually kind-of, sort-of actually looked like a donkey, but with the hour long trip home in the sun, it melted a little bit. You can still see the shape of what was there...I mean it still has 4 legs, a body, a tail, and a head, but to me it kind of resembles a lion now. :-) I was so impressed with his creativity!



Friday, July 18, 2008

Sleep, baby, sleep!!

Yay!!!! Ryan slept for almost 6 whole hours last night! It would have been wonderful if I had been able to sleep too! lol

Thursday, July 17, 2008

My poor baby!

Ryan just will NOT stop screaming! Ughh. I've tried everything, but his poor little tummy is giving him hell! He doesn't have colic, because it doesn't last long enough or is consistent enough, but when I look back on these first couple of months I will remember that he was one of those impossible babies. There's just nothing I can do anymore. We've switched formulas and everything else the doctor has recommended, but he still gets the worst gas I've ever seen! His stomach will be rock hard for hours after eating, and he'll arch his back and scream his head off the whole time!

I've never made a better decision in my life than the one I made to stop smoking, but my poor nerves are so frazzled that sometimes I think that stepping on the porch and having one would help calm me down! lol I haven't stooped to actually doing it yet, but it's getting harder and harder not to think about it. Last night, I got so frustrated that I just had to leave the house entirely. I think I freaked Dean out, but I had a mini-breakdown and just walked out. I didn't do anything more than return some movies to Blockbuster and pick up some milk at Kroger's, so I wasn't gone long, but it helped.

I think I need to resume some form of a personal life again. It's not as easy as it sounds. I don't trust my kids to babysitters. Never have and never will, so I have to rely on family to give me a break every once in a while. Now that my mom has moved all the way to the northwest side of town off of 290, I don't really have any more family available. So, I think I'm going to have to sacrifice some time with Dean to just go out by myself and get away for a while! lol

Monday, July 14, 2008

Whew! What a weekend!

It was good to get out for a little bit! I'm still having a little bit of trouble moving around. Most of the pain from the C-section incision itself is gone, but anytime I have to carry Ryan around, especially in his car seat, it feels like it's pulling and starts to ache. And I'm still having trouble bending in weird angles, so it's hard to get the kids in and out of the car. Kinda weird and uncomfortable, so I haven't been leaving the house much. It kind of makes me feel bad, because poor Dalton doesn't get to go to the park as much or even outside as much, just because I can't keep up with him while holding Ryan.

Dean's back working nights again, so this past week was the first week that I had to handle the night feedings all by myself. I've been lucky enough to have a husband who takes care of the baby all night just so I can sleep. lol No more of that, though. I definitely wasn't used to it anymore. It's a little harder than it was when Dalton was born. Back then, I could sleep during the day when he did if I needed to. But now I can't do that, because I still have to take care of Dalton. It's definitely a challenge to keep my eyes open some days! lol

Saturday night was really the first time we've gone anywhere with the baby since he was born. Dalton spent Saturday night with his grandma and grandpa, so Dean and I took Ryan to Dean's grandma's house. She still hadn't met him at that point, and neither had his cousins, so when we got there, a crowd was waiting. lol His mom, dad, brother, and sister were there, as well as his niece and nephew. And Lizzie (his niece) was SO excited to hold Ryan! lol She's 6 I think...maybe 7. Still not sure. lol He had a couple of his aunts and an uncle there...I still have a hard time with their names...there's so MANY of them! lol His cousins, Bob and Rene were there as well.

It's really nice marrying into a large family. :-) Lots of new people whom I absolutely love! They're a great bunch of people and really close as well. My family has always been extremely close until my mamaw died and then we all just kind of split up and moved to different states. So, I kind of missed it. lol Dean and his cousins are really close, but they're pretty much all guys, so when Rene shows up, it's nice to have a chick to talk to! lol She's got a little girl Dalton's age, and a little boy who's about to be 1, so we've got some stuff in common. lol

We were there pretty much until a little after midnight, so it turned out to be a pretty long day. Today was kind of lazy in comparison, which was good, because I still get worn out easily (I'm still anemic). So, as of now, I'm off to bed! Hopefully, I can actually sleep this time! lol

Thursday, July 10, 2008

EWWWW!!

My EXTREMELY WEIRD 4 year old child did something this morning that left me completely speechless and disgusted. He was sitting on the floor watching cartoons this morning with his knees straight up in the air, and his feet flat on the floor. I looked up in time to see this incredible feat of flexibility as he bent his entire body around his knees, leaned down, and.......proceeded to LICK the top of his foot!!!!!!!!!!! EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW! I'm not just talking about a "little" lick either! This kid had the ENTIRE top of his tongue running from the top of his ankle all the way to his toes! EWW!

Weirdo. I swear, he doesn't get it from me! lol

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Nervous....

So, Dalton's dad tells me yesterday that he's moving to Houston by the 1st of August. I already knew he was planning on coming down here, and approved it since Dalton misses him so much. But I didn't expect it so quickly. I keep thinking that I shouldn't be nervous...that Brian has done his time, paid his fines, has done everything the judge has told him to do, and hasn't slipped or messed up yet...as far as I can tell anyways.

But it's hard to forget what happened. Few people know, because it's not something that I run around telling people about. Let's just say it was sufficiently bad enough to make me leave Ohio pretty much overnight with my VP's help. I don't think I've ever been so grateful to a person as I was to Chad and Maegan at that point in time! I'm just happy that Dalton was too young to remember anything. Brian really, really has cleaned up his act, and I'm comfortable with letting him be a dad again. And I really don't think that he'd ever repeat the mistake that he made again. But I can't help having the what-ifs.

Honestly, I think my main what-if is worrying about Dalton forgetting about me and wanting to be with his dad. He sees him so little, that every time he does, the two of them are inseparable. Brian kept Dalton the week Dean and I were on our honeymoon, and every time I called, Dalton didn't even want to talk to me. I chalked it up to him having so much fun that he was too busy, and it didn't really bother me. I was actually happy that he wasn't feeling abandoned. lol And it still doesn't bother me...but, what if it happens again when Brian is here permanently? I know that the first couple of weeks, Dalton will be attached to his hip...lol...but what if afterwards he'd rather be with Brian all the time?

I know I'm not the first mother to split time with their child's father, and I won't be the last, but I haven't had to deal with that. Period. Dalton is 4 and I've had sole (although not by a judge's rule) custody of him the whole time. I've never had to share. *sigh* I know I'm whining. I guess I'm just in a weird mood today.