Movin' on Up

To the East side- of the neighborhood. So we are officially no longer homeowners. We accepted an offer on our home, and 9 days later we are closed and moved out. (Of course that week included Spring Break for 5 days, an 8th birthday, medical consultations, and lots of phone calls and packing.) It has been a crazy, stressful, and exhausting week, but we made it! We are currently abiding in a rental until we can find a suitable home to purchase. We have the same home phone number which will be hooked back up in a few days. We are anxious to start the search for our "real" house and hope to make that move in the next few months.

Ryan- 6 months

Ryan turned 6 months old a few weeks ago. Here are the stats from his doctor's appointment:

Height- 27 inches (69 %tile)

Weight- 17 lbs. 2 oz. (41 %tile)

Head Circumference- 16.5 inches (8 %tile)

Ryan is the most happy baby I have ever had. He really is a great baby. Still a good night sleeper and getting better at his nap taking. In the last month he has learned to roll from back to front. In the last few days he has become a rolling champion. He will roll both ways and can maneuver to reach toys on his tummy. He has been introduced to rice cereal. He is slowly tolerating it. He likes to blow raspberries right when I get a full spoon up to his mouth, thereby making a lovely mess of himself and me. He is enjoying playing in the bouncy car. He is very smiley, and loves to giggle especially for his older brother Ethan. I can tell that he wants to be bigger than he is. I think that he will be an early mover, crawler, walker so he can keep up with everyone else. Trying out the highchair for the first time. 3-30-2011

Ryan's new squishy nose face. Perfected at Grandma's Easter Egg Hunt. 4-2-2011

Trying rice cereal for the first time. 4-3-2011

Playing in the bouncy car. 4-7-2011

What's Up?

Yeah. Some days I feel completely overwhelmed, and then like nothing is happening at all. But lately...

We put our house back up for sale. Anyone interested in a 3 bedroom, 1.5 bathroom awesome townhouse? We love it here, but are in desperate need of a garage, yard, and shorter commute for Jeff. Trying to keep a house clean that 6 people LIVE in is not making me very happy at the moment.

I took Katelyn back up to Primary Children's for another appointment with the neurologists. They didn't have any new answers for me, but we are going to see a more specialized neuromuscular neurologist. Problem- booked out until July. Why? We will also be going to get a sleep study done on K, hopefully sooner than July. This will help to figure out some of her wacky sleep issues and decide on a tonsillectomy (or not?) for sure.

I'm headed to Kentucky this weekend for a surprise visit for my mom's 60th birthday. She has no clue. It is going to be so fun. My sisters and oldest brother are also coming. Ryan is coming along too. Jeff is the best husband ever and is staying home with the older three for four days. More on that when I get back.

I got to go to maturation with Ethan at school. They told him all about his body changes that will happen. Coach did a great job, despite all the giggly 5th grade boys. Ethan already knew it all. When Ryan is old enough I think Jeff will get to go with him.

When I got back from maturation I had two hours to get the house ready for a showing, all while trying to keep a little, tired boy happy and trying to pack for my trip. I'm ready for a vacation.

Kentucky here I come!

Arrow of Light

Ethan earned his Arrow of Light at pack meeting a few days ago. Way to go Ethan! He still has two months until he moves on to the Boy Scouts and has a goal to earn all 20 Webelos badges by then. We are so proud of Ethan and grateful to have him in our family. He is a hard worker, a great big brother, and he will still give me hugs and cuddles. It is hard for me to believe that he is almost 11. Time passes so quickly. In the pictures: Ethan earned his award the same night as his best friend Trey. Ethan and his awesome cubmaster Lana Dansie. A picture with mom and dad. Special presenter Bruce Jensen made the ceremony very special. Ethan pinning the mother's pin on his momma.

Green Day

I had some grand plans for St. Patrick's Day. Most of them fell apart. We all wore green, though I didn't get a picture before Ryan acquired an outfit change and Katelyn was in no mood for pictures. The Leprechaun remembered to come and turn the milk green, and we did have a yummy dinner of green waffles, green milk, green eggs, and sausage. I love to celebrate this holiday with my kids, just because. I hope it keeps being a fun family tradition for them and makes some memories at the same time. Hopefully next year things will be even more fun.

5 Months

A week ago Ryan turned 5 months old!

Here is what he is up to now:
~He laughs. Especially when he gets "hi-yaaa"ed by his siblings and daddy.
~He has discovered his feet. He tries to eat them especially when in his bumbo seat.
~He can hold toys and is starting to reach and grab for them.
~He has rolled over front to back twice. Once while mom was watching, and once as a surprise for mom.
~He is still a very smiley, happy and drooly boy.
~He figured out how to blow his spit everywhere. I believe *blowing raspberries* is the cute name for it .
~He is reachy and leany. This means that it is very difficult to eat with him on my lap anymore. I guess I need to get out the highchair. It is also hard to type because he likes to help.
~His hair is growing! It is blond and fuzzy and looks like he has a perfect buzz cut, albeit a rather short one.

Some of his smiley guy action.

He likes to push up on his hands when on his tummy. Crawling prep.



Here is some of that feet action I was discussing earlier.








Ryan and big sister Erin.




Taking a quick nap while mommy gets ready.

He has been a sick boy this past week. He was diagnosed with an ear infection and RSV. He is a lot happier now and feeling better. Now if I can just get him back to sleeping through the night.

KK Update

I took Miss K back to doctor this week. We went to go see a different specialist, Dr. Osguthorpe. After listening to the whole story, asking lots of questions, and examining Katelyn, he confirmed that her original diagnosis of Cerebellar Ataxia is correct. Her ataxia (wobbliness) has improved to me over 50% since she was first seen. It is definitely not gone, but is improving. I notice it more when she is tired. It is basically going to just take more time for her brain to completely recover. This was reassuring to me. I had been worried about just waiting things out. What if there was something else wrong that we could fix- to help her get better faster? It make take several more months, but at least I know that we are on the right track. When I asked him about her starting kindergarten in the fall, he told me that he expected her to make a full recovery and she should be fine in school this fall. What a relief! I seriously feel like a huge burden has been lifted and that makes all the waiting a little easier to take.

A really good thing that came out of the visit- the doctor told Katelyn that she is BETTER. Even though she is still recovering, it is important for her to know she can do all the things that she used to do. She can make her bed, clear her dinner dishes, play with friends, go to preschool, etc. She has regressed emotionally and socially to where she was at 2 1/2 to 3 years old. She has been having lots of temper tantrums and being really moody and defiant. The doctor said this is really common for kids who are sick for a long time. The best thing to fix this is to get her back into her old routines. Thankfully, now that she believes she is BETTER, she has been acting a lot better. Amazing. She still know that she is wobbly sometimes, but she told me that "it is not attacking my brain anymore."

When she was sick she never wanted to go to bed, but rather would stay up later with Jeff and I. Now that she is better she told me, "Mom, I am better now so I can't stay up late anymore." Yep, that's right. This has applied to lots of things, but has made my life a lot better too. It is amazing what the mind can do. We still have moments, but I'll take moments over all day, every day. I am so excited to be finally getting my Miss K back!