Oh Good Grief...Just Put the Camera Down!

I'm through apologizing for the thousands of photos I take of this girl...well except to her of coarse (I think her expression in the first photo shows her true feelings on this subject). I am well aware I've gone overboard, and frankly I dont care! I can promise that once we get though the holidays it should slow down dramatically. Now, after that preamble, on to Ryans "1st of 3 of her very First Christmas". Huh? It breaks down like this...this blessed child gets not one, not two, but THREE Christmas' (is that proper for plural Christmas?) Anyway, Nana and Papa Joe Newsome came to town and they could have used a sleigh to carry all the presents they had for this child. She may look like me to some and more like Jamey to others, she may roll her eyes like me, and laugh like me and be stubborn like me, but her patience she got from Jamey! She was in no hurry to rip open these presents....of coarse it helps she doesn't know what presents are and what is underneath the paper and ribbon....but still..her precision was familiar. But once all the paper was torn and ribbons were eaten..by either her or my cat Moe, it was play time and she had a blasty! She adored all of her new toys and didn't really know what to play with first. I think I made a comment that we were going to have to move just to hold all her toys (and that is not all that far off from the truth...sadly)! But it was a wonderful day, and despite having a KILLER stomach virus (that story has no place here) she had an awesome day! Many many thanks to the Newsomes!!! They braved the bug and came anyway-keeping my fingers crossed they don't get sick!
Here are a few videos from the day:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Tt_ZLUsxx8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZerfI7LMHCA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeNhhH4o01k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLPCMwW9Ls4

Videos, videos and more videos!!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyLUqupwilw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeYbzeGfdUs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8Dxs6DFOCw

A little bit about these videos (I always feel like i have to defend myself for some reason):
The first one is of her trying to crawl...she doesn't, so if you were expecting to watch 5 minutes and 30 seconds for her to heroically crawl at the end-you would be wrong. But she does rest her head on the ground in exhaustion! Riveting!

The second one is just her giggling at Steve. I keep this video around for evidence as to why we dont get rid of Steve when people ask (and they do ask). Just when we are on the verge of throwing him out the door into the cold we watch this video. The fact is, she loves this dog....it sucks for us!

The last one I really have no defense. I shot this and never even noticed that the branch of the tree kept poking her in the eye. Not real sure how that slipped past me. So which is worse, being aware and kept shooting because it is funny, or not even noticing at all??? I didn't know until I watched the video myself....this poor child! So while you are watching this and keep asking yourself, "why doesn't she put down the camera and move poor Ryan away from the tree?" I DIDN'T KNOW!

The Insane Pressure of the 1st Christmas Card...

Who would have thought the process of picking a picture for Christmas cards would be so unbearable. Actually, Jamey probably had a clue this wouldn't be easy for me, and maybe Rachael had an inkling. But for most people this process should be fun, easy, and memorable! But there is so much pressure I have placed on this stupid card that I am tempted not to send one at all, take that family, though it really isn't their fault that I am making this so difficult!
And it really isn't a bad problem to have, I have about 10 cute shots, of which I cannot decide between. Then there is the issue of the card itself, what color, how many photos to use, what to write, who to send them to....ARGGGGG. But what I need to remember, and what Jamey and everyone else who is normal and reasonable keeps telling me, is 1: it is just a Christmas card-people will LOVE it just because Ryan is on it and 2: IT IS JUST A CARD! Ahhh, nothing like a little perspective!
I just wanted to publicly say for all those who are trying to help me, I hear ya.... I'm listening and just give me a few more weeks to look these pictures over and then decide to go in a different direction entirely!

The Obligatory Thanksgiving Post

I feel like I am obligated to tell Ryan's first Thanksgiving story, for historical purposes only. Thankfully, it was a fairly uneventful trip and this should go quickly! We started the week prior kind of rough-Steve needed his vaccines in order to board, which caused a reaction, and a subsequent night spent getting fluids, the next day he was fine...Whew! Then on Tuesday we get a call from her daycare informing us to come get her she has a fever of 102.5, again. What??? So after a phone conversation with her doctor, it is determined that she has a cold...Whew again! Now we are packing-which I thought I hated packing before having Ryan, it has now become my nightmare-the bane of my existence if you will. It is Sucky Suckerson (forget it-too long to explain). Needless to say, we have to pack the entire house for an 18 pound little baby. And no matter how great my efforts are to pack "only what I need" the effort is futile. I ALWAYS over pack, and now, not only am I over packing for myself, but now my daughter has 25 outfit for a 3 day trip for crying out loud. Somehow we jammed it all in, the Jeep is loaded and we are ready to go, and only 1 hour behind schedule-not that we really have one of those anymore. The drive was fine, with the exception of Ryan developing a cough that kept waking her up and the anticipated traffic on Hwy 77 out of Charlotte. But we got there safe and sound, if only a few hours later than we thought (5 hour trip took 7). Now on to the main event (which I will explain in pictures-I don't have to write that much, you wont have to read that much and lets face it, they are prettier to look at!)

Thanksgiving Day! Some of Jamey's family members have met Ryan before (of coarse she was only a few months old then and WASN'T wearing her fancy new dress) so I was excited for them to see her all grown up (hee hee-the girl can't eat real food, or walk/talk, but she is grown up). Anyway, the day was perfect! I couldn't have scripted it better if I wanted to, she was STELLAR!!!!! She cooed on command, smiled when directed, ate ALL her dinner (which I will get into later), laughed when it was appropriate (which is unusual-she normally laughs inappropriately), rubbed her eyes when she was tired all cute like, napped when needed, woke smiley and basically charmed the hell out of the entire family! But enough of her-the best part-the food. Besides the peas (sorry-had to through that in there Nana) everything was wonderful (from the turkey to the broccoli casserole to the cheese muffins to the stuffing) and I ate my weight in it all-way more than I should have (which is normal right?) and Ryan followed suit: she had pureed turkey and gravy, sweet potatos, green beans AND applesauce for dessert. The best part is, she ate it all...not real sure where she put it!! But I guess she wanted to be just like mommy-fat and happy and SLEEPY!

It was a lovely day all around and soooo nice to see everyone again! Thanks so much to Nana and Papa Joe for the yummy treats and always feeding us so well!! We love you!

It is normally very pretty in NC during Thanksgiving and this year was no exception. The best part about these pictures is the back stories. In the first one, the pile of leaves was too enticing to pass up, however, I did not anticipate her sinking so quickly to the bottom and almost being swallowed up by the monster pile! And in the last picture, what you dont see and something we also failed to recognize was just how wet and dirty the bottom of the pile would be. Once we picked her up, her tights were filthy and her feet were all wet! Not to mention that she picked up a leaf with an enormous stem and immediately put it up her nose and that ended the photo session pretty fast!!!

Ahhh.....PEACE. Nothing brought her more happiness than her newest present from Nana-Pat the Puppy...or Patty the Puppy (whichever you feel like saying).

Biggest Milestone to date!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7ppDi6qXJo

OK, so she IS sitting, eating solids, has 6 teeth and can say "dada" and "mama"-all pretty good milestones. But this is the one I was waiting for, the one we have been working towards-CLAPPING! We are a sports oriented family, we live to cheer for something, anything. We love throwing our fists up in the air, jumping off the couch and a screaming a big YAY!!!!! I would border on saying we clap and cheer way more than the average person-whatever that means!? So needless to say that on the biggest football weekend, the rivalries of all rivalries-SHE HAD TO CLAP. I honestly was getting nervous, she doesn't exactly perform on command....and it came down to the wire, but she did it-she clapped just about 1/2 hour to kickoff! WHEW-that was a close one...thankfully the game was not!
Enjoy the video above of her clapping-she's awesome!

I Hate to use the word "hate" but.....

Oh my...so Ryan gets to experience her first OSU vs The Team from Up North (Michigan) game and not to be outdone from previous years, we got dressed for the occasion!!! It turned out to be a very very good day:

The Ohio State University 42

University of Michigan 7

Yes, that IS how we like it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Mama" no no....Ryan says "dada"!!!

0

Ok, so I don't ask much, I really dont. But come on now-I ask my daughter, who lets remind everyone, that I gave birth too, nursed for 4 months, changed unmentionable diapers, woke up countless hours during the night, loved, cuddled, fed, clothed, and cared for, while; through no fault of his own, her "dada" was out of town. So when I ask her to say "mama" you would think it would be easy, she is with her "mama" 18 of the 24 hours she is awake, but no! I ask her to say "mama" and guess what........ you guessed it, she said "dada"!!!!! Now I know that "dada " is an easier syllable then "mama" but still....where is the love????

The MOST annoying game in the world!!!

Steve has always been...what is a nice way to put this...ostentatious. That may actually be too generous. Since he was 6 weeks old he played this game with us where we get on the floor and he runs circles around us barking....sounds like more fun than it really is. It was cute before he truly "found" his bark, but ever since it is the most horrible noise I know, it literally burns my brain. Since Ryan has been sitting up on her own, we have begun playing on the floor more and more and Steve sees this has a good opportunity to introduce Ryan to this game. Now, in normal situations, I would end this game immediately before I get a migraine, however, Ryan happens to LOVE it. She giggles and coos, and smiles & laughs, she cant get enough, which spurs Steve on further and louder! If this sounds like the most obnoxious game ever, you would be right. But for now, there is no harm (besides my ears bleeding) and they seem to honestly enjoy this dance around each other and I like them to get along. So in short-whatever makes Ryan happy, makes me happy...and whatever makes Steve happy, makes everyone else miserable! :)

When it rains.....

So this poor child has been put to the test the last 5 days or so! She did get the Roseola and Friday night was scary not being able to get her temp down under 102. (As you can see one of our attempts above by soaking her knit hat in water and putting it on her-she was miserable) Finally some time Sat night, her fever broke and we waited for the rash, thinking the worst was over! Come Sunday, the rash appeared (I tried to get it in the first two pics, but you can barely see the rash-it was much worse in person) and we were relieved that Ryan was on the road to recovery. But Sunday night had to have been the worst night sleep she has had since being born! She was unusually fussy and was awake every 30 minutes! Knowing she had her shot visit on Monday, we held out and decided to ask the dr what we could do (again, incorrectly, assuming it was her teeth). I mentioned in my previous blog about the possibility that it was either an ear infection, or roseola-well, it turned out to be both at the same time. So she was up, not because of her teeth, but because her ears throbbed! We were given a new antibiotic and are now hoping for speedy recovery today! So, as of last week, this child has been cutting 4 teeth at once, caught Roseola and suffered days of insanely high temps, AND had a double ear infection! And as you can clearly see from the above picture-she smiles all the while! Such an amazing child!!! It could have been MUCH MUCH worse, her attitude saved the day!

Ryan's on FIRE!!!!!!!

So she woke up yesterday morning, everything appeared normal, when she got suddenly fussy for no known reason. I went to pick her up, dreading it for fear of interrupting her morning cartoons (you just don not interrupt Tog, Tizzie & Toot), and making matters worse, I quickly realized why she was so fussy. She was blazing hot. I found it to be seriously odd since she had just finished breakfast and I just held her like 15 minutes before. I took her temp, it wasn't too bad-102. Thinking it was from the onslaught of teeth she has coming in, we gave her Tylenol and the fever went down. We went into work and dropped her off at daycare. Well, at around 1:00 daycare called and said we had to come pick her up-she had a fever of 103.4 . I dont know how many of you reading this has ever felt a child with a fever like that, but I wasn't prepared for how hot she felt. It is insane. It certainly seemed like a cause for alarm to me. We got her into the doctor, who said it could be one of two things: double ear infection, or a virus called Roseola. He gave us antibiotics in case it was her ears, and if it is Roseola, he said she would have a high fever for several days, then once the fever breaks she will break out into a rash all over her body and that means she is clear of the virus and is no longer contagious. I am so thankful he mentioned that, if Ryan all of a sudden broke out in a rash all over her body like he was describing, I would have freaked out!!!

So for now, we are simply trying to keep Ryan comfortable, rotating Tylenol and Motrin, and giving her sponge baths.
Just so you know-she is amazing, she has barley cried once! She whimpers when she is about to go to sleep, otherwise it doesn't matter if her temp is 104, she is going to keep on smiling and laughing at Steve! Got to LOVE this child!!!!

The New and Improved Bath Time-Introducing Debbie the Duck Tub

Not that anyone really cares whether or not Ryan loves to take a bath except for me, Jamey and the Grandparents. It was just an excuse to show her stylish towel that she adores, and of coarse her brand new Debbie the Duck Tub. Why did we insist on naming everything? Do you have any idea how much stuff is in our house with names right now? I can't keep track....Debbie the Duck, Ollie the Octopus, Ellie the Elephant, Fee the Frog, Millie the Monkey, Larry the Lion, Jeffery the Giraffe, I seriously could go on and on. And they aren't even particularly clever names either.....This is what having children is about naming every inanimate object she owns...cause we are running out of names....

Ryan and her big fat cat!

If you think the camera angle is making this cat look much much larger than my daughter, you are incorrect. This cat IS much much larger than my daughter....by about 14 pounds (Ryan is 18 pounds) you do the math....Yes.. that is 32 pounds (hey-that's fast math). He is also 32 inches around, which means he could wear Jamey's jeans if he wanted to. Now that would be silly, I mean, where is he going that he needs pants-he hasn't been out of the house in years!

I was going to let Ryan "ride" him, but bless his heart, I think he has had enough humiliation for one day!

The Playground??? Really Ryan???

So of all the places we have taken Ryan and the things we attempt to expose her to, from the beach, to the mountains, concerts, festivals, etc.....it was the rickety old playground down the street that she LOVED! Bless her heart...she had a blast. Hey, whatever she wants!!!

Ryan is a True Patriot!!

This was quite a day for us-ELECTION DAY!!!! Ryan dressed in her finest red, white & blue for school. We picked her up early from daycare and off we were to vote. We had a wait, not too bad, but Ryan was once again perfect throughout. I know she isn't going to remember voting with mom, but it was important for me to take her! The night was of coarse celebratory as our candidate won! She however, missed the festivities and fell asleep on schedule. The next morning we ran out to get the paper and made sure we got "the shot" with the headlines!! OBAMA WINS!!! Awesome, awesome day!!!!! We feel hopeful and proud for the first time in a long time....reason enough to celebrate!!!

Buckeyes and Broken Hearts!

There are a lot of things I can protect my daughter from, or at least try. However, the heartbreak of being an Ohio St Buckeye fan isn't one of them. There is nothing I can do, she was born a Buckeye, just like I was. I lived my entire life dealing with OSU losses and the jokes for 28 years until they finally won the Championship in 2002!!! Sadly, in Ryan's brief life she has had to endure a loss to then ranked #1 USC and #2 Penn St. It is the life of a Buckeye...just when you have expectations of them, they flat out break your heart! So sorry for this Ryan!!!

A couple Grandmas, a Papa Joe and toys!!!

Ryan IS spoiled. I am the first to admit it. However, I am not the one spoiling her-it is her grandparents...ALL 4 OF THEM ARE GUILTY! Not that I can really blame them, they were forced anxiously to wait 7 years for their first grandchild, I suppose they are long overdue some spoilin fun. Nana and Papa Joe came into town for Halloween, took her trick-or-treating and bought her so much food, she will end up a Ryanrolypoly. Then my mom, known as just "Grandma" (which I love-old school), took her to the park and brought her all sorts of toys, books and stuffed animals...she didn't know what to play with first! If this was just a few random gifts then I hate to think what Christmas will be like!!! Isn't that the right of a grandparent though???