Halloween Parties

Rylee has had several opportunities to wear her Halloween costume this year. Here she is at a costume-themed Ooopsy the Clown.




She picked this witch's costume all by herself. She really loved the broom. It reminded her of "The Room on the Broom" which is her favorite Halloween book this year.

Later that same day, she had another costume party with my mommies group. Unfortunately, I never caught any decent photos there.

On Friday, they had their Fall Festival at her school. Gaga and I picked her up, took her out for pizza and then took her back for the party.








She had a really good time. She painted a pumpkin picture, made a tissue paper candy corn, played stick the nose on the jack-o-lantern. There was even a petting zoo.

She loved seeing all her friends in their costumes. There was one older girl (that Rylee doesn't know) dressed as Strawberry Shortcake. She flipped out she was so excited. That wasn't a costume, it was Strawberry! :)

Yesterday she went to a party at the Froyds. I have those pics on the computer so I'll post about that tomorrow.

It's certainly been a Happy Halloween so far. :)

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Preggo Problems

It's been an interesting couple of days pregnancy-wise. First, my lab results showed that my TSH levels for my thyroid are really out of whack. Normally it reads under 5, but mine is currently 33! This kind of imbalance causes over-active appetite, weight gain and extreme fatigue. No wonder I've been such a zombie-mommy as of late.

Then last night I had a weird tingly sensation in both arms and legs. Kind of like poor circulation when your leg falls asleep, except it was constant no matter what position I was in (lying down, sitting up etc) and lasted all night and into today. I was a bit panicked last night and did call my ob's emergency line after several hours, but they seemed unconcerned. It was uncomfortable and stressful so I only managed to get three hours of sleep.

My regular doctor rushed me in this morning (he seemed concerned!). When they called me back, the receptionist literally began the conversation with "Shannon, are you dressed?" "Um, yeah." "Sorry, I just meant that Dr. M wants you to come in right away." :) His staff always tells me that I'm his favorite patient and it pays. They are so good to me there. I wish he delivered babies!

Anyway, my blood pressure was fine but I guess this circulation issue is another symptom of the thyroid problem so he ran my labs again. Hopefully I'll know more on Monday. I have felt better all day, but as I type this, I'm starting to go tingly in my feet again. :(

The good news is I had a similar problem with Rylee (though seemingly not as severe) and she turned out all right in the end. So fingers crossed we can get this under control ASAP and the baby will be none the worse for it.

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The Letter P

This recap post is brought to you by the letter P.

- With the slightly cooler temps, my Mom, Rylee and I spent our weekend enjoying Parks, Pumpkin Patches, Picnics and Pony rides. Too bad I can't get to the Photos I took at the Pumpkin Patch (see camera conundrum)!

- We also watched the Pitiful Vikings lose yet another game. :)

- Today was my Pregnancy checkup. Everything looks good. The heartbeat was in the 160s though I forget what that means as far as gender Predicting! The Dr. found the heartbeat right away and said it was strong and that the baby was moving already. Just what I need - another mover and shaker!

- After some Practical errand running, I met my Mom at the movie Projection Place. :) We saw "Footloose" and it was Phenomenal! I love when remakes stay true to the original and this one did not disappoint. The casting was Perfect and they even worked in the original songs and choreography in many scenes. Honestly I can't wait to see it again either at the cheap theater or via rental.

- Now it's couch Potato time... :)

Camera Conundrum

Today my Mom and I took advantage of the cooler temperatures and took Rylee out for some pumpkin patch fun. Of course this meant making Rylee crawl over pumpkins and haybales in search of the perfect fall photo op. It was all going well until...

... my camera wouldn't turn on. I had checked the battery before we left (it died midway through her birthday party this year so I'm a little hyper sensitive about it now) and it had plenty of life. I wasn't too panicked. I assumed I had misread something.

I charged it when we got home and put it in the camera... still no power. Now I'm starting to worry. I'm going to hustle out tomorrow and buy a new battery in hopes that something went awry with this one. 'Cuz if it's not a battery issue then I have no idea what's wrong. I guess I'll also pull out my extended warranty paperwork. I think I have a couple more months before it runs out - I hope!

In the meantime I'm bummed I can't see the pics I took before the camera drama. I think I got some cute shots...

Black Cat Mishap

Today as Rylee and I were driving home from my Mom's a black retread suddenly flew out from underneath the truck in front of me. Half way through the air it turned into a black cat. Seriously... this is how my eyes registered it in like point-something seconds. It's scared the bejeezus out of me. Traffic was heavy so I slammed on the breaks as much as I could, swerved within my lane, and screamed. I didn't feel anything or hear anything so I think I managed to miss the cat. When I glanced in the rearview mirror I thought I saw it flop, run, whatever into the grass.

I was freaking still so my Mom suggested I call the Sunrise Police. Yeah, they don't care unless the animal is dead and blocking the roadway. My Mom was kind enough to do a drive by for me and she didn't see anything in the area so I'm hoping that this black cat still had a few of its nine lives and was able to claw away with only a harrowing story to tell.

Just out of curiosity what do you think the bad luck would be for hitting a black cat? I hear it's not good if they cross your path so I'm thinking flattening one wouldn't be good either...

Dance Fever

Rylee was dancing along with a TV program the other night. She was very focused and following the steps very closely.

 

So I'm not sure how to explain this photo...

 

As one of my Cedar Crest mates, Dave, says: Dance like you've just crapped your pants.

Adam Sandler may have said it too... with a little more profanity. :)

Mini Maddie

Rylee adores her cousin, Maddie. So when she received this treasured hand-me-down in the mail, she put it on that very day... and actually posed for the camera so I could capture the moment!

Maddie once received a dress with polka dots and exclaimed "just like Baby Rylee." And whenever we see sunflowers, we think of Maddie!

 

Re-enacting one of Maddie's favorite photo ops - the tree hugger pose. I love how she's hugging the tree's boo boo.

 

A squinty eyed portrait shot, but still lovely. :)

 

Happy 35th Birthday Jon!

I wanted to do something special for Jon's birthday post but...

- I'm not allowed to tell stories about him on the blog

- I'm not allowed to post pictures of him (without Rylee) on the blog

- I've been expressly forbidden from ever again posting younger pictures of him on the blog (his co-workers make a few little posters and its all my fault?!).

So I guess this will have to suffice:
"Happy Birthday Daddy! And Anymore!" Love, Mommy & Rylee

P.S. In other news, Rylee had her first truly successful movie theater viewing today (as in we didn't leave early, didn't have to use the bathroom partway through, and she didn't fall asleep). We saw "The Smurfs" at the dollar theater. She seemed to like it. My Mom and I thought it was "ehh" but at least it was only a dollar. Had I paid more, I might have been disappointed. Though I'll sit through just about anything for Neil Patrick Harris!

Goofy Girl

Rylee and her recent goofiness:

Rylee the Mermaid

 

Rylee was playing dress up with some items from the photo area at her birthday party. I actually took tons of pics, but she had a sea shell malfunction in most of them so they were too risque to post. :)

Sk8ter Girl

 

Rylee is obsessed with skate boarding now that Jon and his buddies (aka Old Man Militia) are getting back into it. She loves to go to the skate park and be their cheering section / board retrieval helper.

Jammin' Rylee

 

Rylee found these headphones the other day and remembered wearing them at Monster Jam. She insisted we 'You Tube' Monster Jam so she could watch it while wearing her protective eargear.

Swimfan

 

Rylee was such a big girl when Gaga took her to get her flu shot last week that she earned a trip to Walmart for a new baby. She picked this one that swims. She's pretty cool. Of course, she had to come home and do a couple laps with her in the pool that same day.

Happy Birthday Rio!

Today was Rio's 9th birthday!

Of course, she didn't become a part of our family until Christmastime. I know we got her before the holiday. The first pics I have of her say 12/23 so that's what I'm going with. She was 2.2 pounds of lovable fluff from the beginning.

 

We potty trained her in three days. She would ring a bell at the back door when she had to go out. We only used the bell for a year or so if I remember correctly. She would scratch at the door instead. I know there was some discussion about not letting her sleep in the bed with us and she did have a crate for some time, but she's been sleeping by Jon's feet for as long as I can remember and we wouldn't have it any other way.

When we were looking for puppies Jon's only stipulation was that he didn't want some little, white, fluffy dog. Somehow I convinced him that brown and white was not the same as all white. Little did we know that the brown and whites lose most of their coloring after a year. Oops. Love you anyway "white dog."

 

White dog is just one of Rio's many nicknames. Let's see how many I can think of off the top of my head: the great white hunter, monster, Gizmo, Fizgig, Snaggletooth, Jose (as in "No way Jose"), ewok... I doubt that's even half of them. I know I'm missing some of Jon's favorites...

You might think Rio would get confused with so many monikers, but she is very astute at remembering names. Her greatest trick has always been that she knows most all of her toys by name (cool dude, cone guy, jungle monkey, etc) and she will sort through her toy box to find whatever one you call out. Smart doggie!

As part of her birthday celebration, Rio got waffles for breakfast, a new toy from Rylee and some new PB&J (peanut butter and jerky) treats from Gaga. We also watched the animated movie "Rio" in her honor. Not about dogs, but like the movie, she too was named after Rio de Janeiro. :) It would only have been better had it not rained all day. The poor thing never even got the chance to terrorize lizards in the backyard (one of her favorite daily activities). We don't call her the great white hunter for nothing!

Too Tired

Another week has gone by with no posting by me. In my defense, I have been sick and tired...

...and pregnant!

It's been three whole weeks of keeping it hush hush which is apparently my and Rylee's limit for secret keeping. She started blabbing at it day care and I started getting busted by suspicious friends who received frantic phone calls inquiring about ob/gyns and one who caught me playing drink switcheroo (alcoholic to non-alcoholic). It's so much easier to just come out with it!

Here's what you need to know:

It's early, very early, but I already feel terrible. I forgot how much I didn't enjoy my first trimester with Rylee. I hate feeling nauseous. And this time I've had heart burn too. Great combo.

But feeling terrible does make you feel pregnant so I'm hoping that means that everything is brewing properly.

If all goes well, my due date is May 17th.