Happy Anniversary

TO ME!!!!

Eight years ago today I married my sweetheart in the Logan, UT temple and made the best decision ever.

Steve gave me a beautiful necklace, which was so, so sweet. And he also surprised me by having a sister in the ward (thanks, Sister Williamson!) come stay the night with the kids. I was a bit nervous to have her come, as she's a single mom with a grown son, so this would be a big shock! But she was willing, so away we went. We went out to eat, had our favorite ice cream, watched a movie and headed to a hotel. It was so nice to sleep a whole night with nobody waking me up! We had a continental breakfast in anticipation of a yummy lunch then drove another 2 hours down to the St. Louis Temple to do sealings, which is such an awesome thing to do, but especially close to a wedding anniversary. We got through just 5 before the incident outlined in the last post. And so Mom took over for Sister W, (who I guess was exhausted by Saturday afternoon- 5 kids under 7... yeah!). And that ended our wonderful anniversary weekend.

Although there were certainly dents in the road, it was wonderful to spend quality time with Steve without little ones vying for our attention. I am so grateful to be married to such a sweet, wonderful guy who takes care of me and our family and is just an awesome priesthood holder.

Mastitis

Medical dictionary definition:

inflammation of the mammary gland usually caused by infection

If only it were so cut and dry like that!

So, Saturday I got to find out what a full-blown infection felt like. I had one with Ellie that resolved on its own. I had been feeling a bit of pain for a couple days, but thought it would go away as well. Steve and I were actually in the temple doing sealings and I got light-headed. I asked for a drink of water thinking that would help. I went back in and started to feel really faint. It was time to head out. As I changed clothes I got really cold. Then I felt nauseous and hung out in the bathroom for a few minutes while I waited. Nothing happened except for worrying a few really nice sisters. I finally made it to Steve and as we left the temple I started shaking uncontrollably. And that is not an understatement. I've had the shakes after my c-sections and that was pretty miserable, not being able to relax without shaking. But this was amplified about 5 times. I had to bite down on my pillow in the car to keep from biting my tongue. It stopped my teeth from chattering, but it moved down to my legs or hands or whatever else. Even tensing up didn't relieve it. Steve rushed me to the hospital, which thankfully was basically across the street and in we went. And then we waited, and waited and waited. Nothing like being in an emergency room and have things move like molasses! I think we were sitting for about an hour. They were nice enough to bring me a heated blanket, which actually helped calm down the shaking.

By the time I reached my room the shaking had stopped but my head was pounding. My brother-in-law, Tim, was kind enough to drive over and assist Steve in giving me a blessing (thanks Tim and Cynthia!!!) It was discovered I had a 102.3 temp, so after some Tylenol, an IV drip of antibiotics and a prescription we were on our way. I slept most the way home (3 hours) and Steve was awesome to drive even though he was tired. I ate some pretzels on the way home, but those came back up a few hours later (second time ever since we've been married). Headache still hadn't gone away. I went to bed at 8, but was up every hour with either chills or sweating bullets. It was a miserable night. I awoke to a fever and headache, but after some more Tylenol and rest that finally went away. I ate a few saltines and drank a few sips of 7-up on Sunday afternoon, but that just made my stomach hurt worse. The infected area has gotten more red and the tenderness still has not gone away. I have been able to eat a little bit of food today, which is giving me a bit more energy. I'm hoping by tomorrow I'll feel much better and that infection will just go away!!!

Steve and I joked that the only way I've been able to lose weight this time around has been when I was sick and couldn't eat for a couple days. Didn't plan on doing it again just a month later! Although, I am 10 pounds lighter than I was a month ago after the first bout of stomach bugs. Exercise and diet didn't accomplish what starvation did... :-/

So yeah, miserable, miserable, miserable. And on top of it all, I think my milk is drying up. Ah... C'est la vie.

Katie's winter pictures

When we took Ryan out the other day for picture, Katie insisted on getting her picture taken as well.

Disaster Boy Turns 2

How did it happen that my little guy is turning 2 today? He has brought an enormous amount of love and laughter to this family.

Here are some of my favorite things about Birthday Boy Ryan:

He loves, loves, loves to snuggle and give hugs and kisses. He is the sweetest little boy. In the morning especially he likes to come down and snuggle with Steve.

I can't believe how polite he is. Ryan is the only one of our kids who consistently says please and thank-you. He knows if he says please he'll get pretty much whatever he wants. Why haven't the girls picked up on that? His language skills are improving significantly as well. I can understand Ryan-ese much better than most, but he is really taking great strides.

He has earned his nickname and more. Ryan can get into anything and everything. In a way I totally admire his determination. He doesn't just whine and wait for someone to do it for him. He takes matters into his own hands and accomplishes what he wants accomplished. Raiding the candy stash, tearing open a favorite snack (goldfish all over the floor), moving a stool over to get a cup and attempt to get water from the fridge by standing on the dishwasher, etc. There is almost always a mess in the wake of Ryan.

Ryan is a furniture mover. It allows him to complete those tasks outlined above.

He is learning to fight back. Sarah gets her hair pulled a lot. Katie and Ellie get hit quite a bit. We all get a tongue-out raspberry when he's frustrated. Tommy occasionally gets shoved aside when precious lap space is being infringed upon.

Ryan adores Tommy. He's constantly giving him hugs and kisses and brings him toys when he's sad. Again, there's only jealousy when Ryan wants the snuggle that Tom is receiving.

Every meal is called "yunch". If he's hungry, that's what he asks for. He eats just about everything. Luckily his food allergies have all but disappeared. I'm still careful with eggs, but that is really it. The only foods I know he can't stand and won't eat: bananas and eggs....well, up until yesterday, he devoured the scrambled eggs I made and seems to be ok with them! We don't even have him on his allergy medicine anymore which is a blessing (though that may be due to it being around zero degrees outside!)

Ryan is such a girl sometimes. He changes clothes multiple times a day (yet again, since I won't do it for him, he does it himself.) He has favorite clothes that he prefers to wear if they are clean. He does not like to be dirty for long. He screams like a girl. But I suppose that's not completely his fault. He likes to wear bracelets and carry around a purse. He likes to push babies in strollers. He loves, loves, LOVES shoes. It's really quite scary how much he likes his accessories. Ryan even loves to wear a tie to church and as soon as he knows it's church day he runs to his room and picks one out.

But he's also such a boy. He climbs on everything. He growls all the time. He loves balls and cars. His latest is to put a basket or bucket on his head and walk around trying to scare everyone. Really quite funny.

He loves to have his hands in his pockets. It always makes me laugh because he looks like he's being all "GQ" when he does it. I have to be very careful when it's time to do laundry. I have found grapes, chapstick, marbles, crackers. All sorts of fun things.

Ryan has serious separation anxiety. We've had the same babysitter for almost 2 years and he still cries when we leave. He refuses to go to Nursery alone. Steve has become Ryan's favorite, finally. My dad ("abapa") is probably a close second. Typically anyone that talks to Ryan gets a blank stare or a scowl.

We have not kicked the pacifier habit yet. We have restricted it to bedtime. He is definitely addicted! He's still in a crib, too. I'm not ready to give up either crutch yet.

He loves to read books. Some favorites (and it's funny to watch him pick up a book, look at it, and throw it down for a different one that he likes more):

We're Going on a Bear Hunt

Moo, Baa, La la la

I Feel My Savior's Love

5 Little Monkeys

Winnie the Pooh board books

I Can be Reverent

What Makes a Rainbow

10 Little Ladybugs (now destroyed...hmmm)

Ryan is the perfect addition to our family. I can't imagine life without this cuddle-bug. Happy Birthday my sweet, sweet boy.

(We had a snow-globe snow this morning and I made Steve go out and take pictures. We got some awesome ones of Katie, too that I'll post tomorrow.)