Adenoids and Ear tubes

Ryan had his ear tubes and adenoids out this morning. I was so nervous going into the surgery, but it went much better than I anticipated. The recovery in the doctor's office was rough. Ryan was upset about the IV, the band-aid and he just wanted out of there! He did really well and drank all his juice, so they let us go home a little earlier than they had originally said. (Probably because he could not stop crying, and he was disturbing all the other patients!) Once we got him to the car, he was calming down. We stopped and got him some chocolate milk at Starbucks on the way home and he really liked that. He sat in my lap for quite awhile once we got home, but then he wanted to get down and play! He ate an okay lunch, took a nap and then wanted to go outside and ride his bike! We made sure that he had Tylenol all day, just to stay ahead of any pain that he might have. Seriously, I could see that people were praying for him--his recovery today was amazing and beyond anything we or the doctors expected.

Last Day!

Tonight was my last night of class! Now, I still have two online classes and a project and a big paper to turn in from this class, but no more going to class!! I really just need to breathe and relax a little!
I'm actually skipping out on the last night of class because we are going to see Brian Regan tomorrow!! So thankful for a gracious and understanding professor! I'm so excited!

Day 3 of Underwear

Ryan is doing great going on the potty! He had one accident today and we became very familiar with the bathrooms at Costco, Winco and EZ Orchards! I'm so proud of him!
His shining moment today was when I was in the shower and Ryan was playing in his room. Ryan runs into the living room and says, "I go potty Daddy." Ryan had run into the bathroom, pulled down his pants and peed in his potty all by himself!

Happy Birthday Jamie!

Today is Jamie's birthday and Ryan and I sneaked out of the house early so that we could wake Jamie up with a mocha from Starbucks! Ryan thought it was so funny that we were leaving the house in our jammies!
Jamie was very excited to have that when we woke him up! I got him tickets to Brian Regan up in Portland for his birthday and he was VERY excited about that too! I've had the tickets for months and have been hiding them! I've been dying to tell other people that we are going, but didn't want it to accidentally leak out!
Anyway, we are keeping the day low-key! Jamie told me that he felt that it was more important to give me a day to de-stress rather than add to my stress level just to do something for his birthday!
Happy Birthday Jamie! I love you!

Going a LITTLE crazy!

Well, summer has begun and I am finally off of work. Summer session at Corban has also begun and so right now I am taking 3 classes. I'm truthfully going a little nuts trying to keep up with it all! All I have done is homework the last few days and my class is from 6-9pm, so I've been up late getting homework done too.
Oh, did I mention that Ryan is now wearing underwear full time? He's been going in the potty like a champ for awhile and would sometimes tell us he needed to go, and we knew he was ready. So, we went cold turkey on the diapers during the day and he had NO accidents on day 2 of potty training! (He did pee in his diaper during naptime, since he couldn't/wouldn't go before nap. This is the crazy thing--this kid is going two to four hours between peeing! I've been trying to fill him full of liquid but he hasn't been that interested. So, here I am trying to put him on the potty every 30 minutes and he thinks I'm nuts. Not sure if its a control thing or not, but if he doesn't want to sit on the potty he is NOT going to do it. Timers didn't work either. Yesterday, I told him it was time to sit on the potty and he threw a total fit. While he is throwing the fit he peed on the floor! But if he is waiting so long between potty trips, he must think I'm ridiculous trying to make him pee so often!
We maybe should have done this earlier??? So, anyway, we haven't left the house in 2 days since Ryan refuses to pee on the potty before we leave the house. (Another reason why I'm going crazy!) But, I think we'll venture out tomorrow since he is showing that he can go long stretches and not have accidents.

Bon Voyage!

Char and Elisabeth as college freshmen! And now--almost 10 years later!

This weekend, we traveled up to Tacoma to spend some time with our wonderful friends Elisabeth and Jacob! Elisabeth and I were roommates at PLU our freshman year and she and Jacob and I were inseparable. Elisabeth graduated this weekend with her master's in social work and in two weeks, they are MOVING to WISCONSIN! Jacob is going to architecture school in Milwaukee, so they are off in two weeks! Anyway, we drove up to be there for their going away party and to spend some quality time before they go.

Ryan had a blast playing with Ivan and Lydia, Elisabeth's niece and nephew as well as the other kids at the party! He especially loved Danelle, our friends Shane and Dayna's little girl!

Can I just say that it is a little strange to see all your college friends with kids? I remember hanging out in the dorms and suddenly (okay, 6 years isn't so sudden) we are all parents!

We wish them the best of luck and hope those nasty Wisconsin winters send them back to the Pacific Northwest after Jacob finishes school!

Ryan and Jacob became best buds!

Elise and Doug--two friends from PLU


Dayna and I

Ryan playing in the grass.

Ready for Pancakes!

This morning, we were getting ready for breakfast and I handed Ryan his plate with pancakes on it. I told him, "Ryan, the pancake is very hot. So, what do we need to do before we eat it?"

Ryan says, "Pray!"

Have I mentioned I love this little guy?

God makes things grow!

I mentioned yesterday that we planted seeds in Ryan's class on Sunday. The lesson was about how God makes everything grow--the plants, animals and us! Ryan seemed to get it on Sunday and today I noticed his seed had sprouted. I called him over to come see his plant and he runs over and yells, "God did it!!!" Then, he told me that God lived at his house. We talked about how God lives in heaven but He also lives in our hearts when we love Him and believe in Him. He asked me, "God live in your heart Mommy?" We talked about how God lives in mommy and daddy's heart and how one day when Ryan is a little bigger, He can live in Ryan's heart too. The whole thing just warmed my heart and made me so thankful for this little boy God has given us!

Warning...shameless parental bragging ahead!

Ryan has been so fun lately! It seems like every day he is doing and saying new things! I have been so bad at blogging lately, so, I thought I'd post a list of his latest and greatest. (I know this is totally bragging, but I figure a blog is a good place to document this!)

--Ryan has been wearing underwear in the afternoons after nap time for a few hours!! He stayed dry from about 4:45 to 7:15 tonight and went potty at EZ Orchards. He has only had one accident so far!!! Wednesday (our first day at home) is when we will try wearing underwear full time.

--Ryan counted to 9 by himself last night! After 9 he went back to 3, but I was impressed!

--We were driving down a big hill yesterday and he said, "Go down the mountain mommy?" :)

--He has been using the word "your" instead of the person's name. Yesterday, he said, "Is your hair wet Mommy?" Not "mommy's hair wet?" anymore!

--I got to teach Ryan's class on Sunday and we planted seeds, since the lesson was about God making things grow. Jamie had his plant after church and asked Ryan about it. Ryan said, "God." Jamie asked him about it again and Ryan told him, "God make it grow!"

--We were at Learning Palace yesterday and Ryan was playing with the trains. They have a car wash for the train cars and Ryan was enamored with it! I asked him if he was putting the trains through the car wash. He tells me, "No, Mommy. The choo choo wash!"

Okay--that is enough of an update for now! 3 more days of school!!!

2 more...

Two more of the fish now have names. Ryan named the other two red minnows, Mommy and Daddy. Mommy is the big one, Daddy is the little one. (not sure how I feel about that!) He named them after we got back yesterday, and he was saying hi to Ruth!