I've been waiting for this!

On Thursday, Troy met the 17 month mark. This boy weighed a solid 29 lbs at his 12 month checkup and he stills weighs 29 lbs. He is getting taller and talking more. Today he said the word No when he was asked a question and shook his head No. He also responds when we say "Where is sippy?" or "Where did your paccy go?" He runs around looking for it. And if we don't find it right away, he says, "uh oh, uh oh, uh oh.." until we do! He knows when he is doing something wrong and tries to fix it. And like his father, he falls asleep in the weirdest places or positions.



On Friday, Rylee met the 4 month milestone. She has to visit Dr. C on Monday for a weight check and 4 month well child checkup, which includes..shhhh..shots. They hurt and sometimes cause fevers and just aren't nice but I think the worst part is holding them down. A normal 4 month old baby can do so so much more than Rylee can but we have to think of her as almost 2 months old. Up until today (she did something incredible, which I've been waiting for!) in my What to Expect the First Year book, she was at a 1 month old baby. Someday, she will caught up to her actual birthday but for right now we have to think of her birthday as April 3rd. Even with that birthday,not to many 2 month old babies weigh just 8 lbs and still fit into preemie clothes!

As promised, here are pictures from outside. Our patio project is at a stand still. Kris' parents came over yesterday and his dad gave him some pointers on how to finish this project. So we just need to get the supplies. We need a load of sand which we can carry in the back of our Jeep so we're stuck right now.






Rylee was outside too!


On Thursday, my sister in law Jen brought my nieces Lexie and Avery over for a visit. These are two incredible girls. They always have so much to say. My brother and my niece Isabelle stayed because Izzy wasn't feeling very well and started running a temperature. She kept her poor mother up the entire night before so hopefully they got some sleep Thursday night.

As for Rylee's incredible something that she today...drum role please....


Isn't this the most beautiful smile ever!! She had tons and tons for me. I love it. I couldn't wait for this day. I wanted it more than the oxygen gone! And it came!! It is the most precious smile! For weeks, I've heard "Has she smiled yet? It's coming!" She never even showed any signs of wanting to smile until BOOM! She focused on face, my smile and my little coos and baby talk and SHE SMILED AT ME!! It wasn't just 1 or 2 accidental smiles, it was real smiles like 20 of them. Big, beautiful, gummy smiles! I'm floating high right now. It was awesome! I got all teary eyed and almost started to cry (paused for a second to tell Kris, who was more interested in making Kool-aid than watching, that Kool-aid waits, first smiles don't and get his bum over and get a few!) and she smiled bigger and brighter! Amazing, simply amazing!

Gloomy, long days...

Today was another yucky day. Work is so slow right now. Most likely it is due to the construction outside the front of the building. These guys are tearing up the street, which needed it, but are taking up one of the 2 driveways. The way people fly into our parking lot, we're going to have an accident before the end of the week, I can feel it. We're a bank with a drive up that is going to be unusable soon if not already. (I leave at 2 so I am not sure how far down the street they got) So I will probably be surprised when I go to work tomorrow. I am sure the 4 wheel drive will come in handy.

My friend, Carolyn, ran in the Madison marathon over the weekend. I am very proud of this girl. She ran the entire 26.2 miles in 3:50:25! Amazing. I can't even get myself motivated to run let alone a freakin' marathon. I don't enjoy any kind of working out...I should try it though. These almost 20 pounds I have gained from having babies is not going to melt off.

My friends, Carolyn (from above), Dana and Annie are talking about having a GIRLS NIGHT!! The last time we all planned a Girls' Night I had to cancel because I went to the hospital for an extended stay and missed it. So hopefully, I can definitely go this time. I am so so so excited. I just wanna talk girly things with girly girls.

My husband is gone at work right now. I am listening to the House mini-marathon (I've already seen this episode) and both of my kids are in bed. Kris and I decided that T had to start sleeping in his own bed in his own room! He lasted the entire night last night. Well, you'll never guess where he's sleeping right now...MY BED!! And I put him there. I love having him in co-sleep with us until 3 am and I get a foot in my side or slapped in the face. When Kris gets home he'll put him in his own bed but for right now he's in mine. And that is my own fault. Rylee sleeps in our room in a bassinet at the end of our bed so she has the right to be sleeping in my room. She's as close as she could get to sleeping in our bed without actually being in it. (She naps in our bed!)

Speaking of RyRy sleeping. Last night, she woke up at about 4 to eat and she was complete turned around. She went from horizontal in the bed to vertical. Then after her nap this afternoon, she was the same way again! Must be getting easier to move around in there. She is close to rolling over. She archs her back and tries. It's close but we're not ready for that yet. She needs to be able to hold her head more and turn it to the side by herself before any of this rolling over business starts happening.

She was suppose to see Dr. Connolly tomorrow but his office called today and he is still sick. This is going on a week...I think he should see a doctor (hehe). Hopefully he gets better soon. That just means that we don't have to see him until Monday. Which just so happens to be the same day as the 4 month immunizations and check up. Kris didn't know this when they called so he made another appointment for Monday. I got him all straighten out and he had to cancel one. Didn't they see that on her file somewhere? I've had this 4 month check up appointment scheduled since before she came home. That was something we were going to work towards and she'll be home to go!! YAY!

She was extremely cranky today. When she wasn't sleepin' she was whinin'. It gets to a person. I know Kris was ready to go to work today and he only had to take care of her (T was at daycare).

Sunday we were going to give RyRy a bath. I decided to do her nightly suppository before I bathed her. I did the whole suppository thing and we only got a little out. So we had to do it again. This time is was taking a long time for her, in the meantime, the bath water was starting to cool down. I told her to just get it over with already. I no longer got that out of my mouth and she pushed (I was pushing her legs against her belly to help) and #2 and suppository came flying out at me. It was kind of a "ah ha mom!'' moment. The joys of being a mommy.

It's pouring right now and I keep thinking about my sisters. My sisters and their husbands are leaving on Thursday for a weekend trip to Nevada. Lucky little devils! They're going to have a blast in the sunny weather while we probably suffer in the pouring rain and dreary days. But since they're going on the trip, that means that Lexie and Avery are going to be in our corner for the entire weekend!! YAY!! I am totally going to see them and give them lots of kisses and hugs. Each time I see these girls, they've changed. Like Avery is getting so much taller and talking about the craziest things and Lexie is a girly girl that talks about hockey and school and Bucky badger. Man, life is flying by!

So, between Kris and I, we have 4 nieces and 3 nephews. Kris's brother and his wife are expecting their 3rd child in October. October 17th, I believe is when she is due, just so happens to be Miss Avery's birthday too! Katrina told me today that on June 5th (which is also when we go to Iowa City to meet with Dr. Julie) is when they're finding out if they're having a Leah or Adam (last I knew those were the names I think). I feel, right this moment anyway, that she's having a boy. But what do I know...that's just a feeling, right now. And I was wrong with both of my kids but have guessed correctly with all my nieces and nephews so we'll just have to wait and see.

Anyway, I do have pictures from the weekend that I will upload soon, I just haven't done it yet. I will! Have a great rainy night. Sleep tight and don't let the bed bugs bite!

Holy Moly...this may be a long one!

I haven't blogged since Wednesday...what? My life is passing by at lightning speed. Let's see...

We met with Dr. Barraclough on Friday since Dr. C was sick and out of the office. You'll never guess who weighs the 8 lbs, 3.5 oz? Yes that would be RyRy. She's amazing. I am not sure what happened but her stools went back to normal color, she's gaining weight, and at times she eats like a pig. I love it. 9 lbs here we come!

T has been living outside the past couple of days. They have been amazingly gorgeous! He gets very very mad when it is time to come in. I have many pictures from today that I took. I'll post them another day.

We finally started a new project...a patio. We have been dreaming and talking about this so for a few dollars and lots of sweat it has begun. Our backyard is a hill so there has been lots of digging. The top layer of sod was removed as well as a dead tree. This tiny little dead twig almost has roots like you wouldn't believe. Right now, roots are our biggest problem. Kris has been diligently working on this patio now for the entire day. I, however, have not contributed much. I will though, I promise. I think I'm actually more of a nuisance to him than anything. When I make a suggestion, sometimes he looks at me like "NO". He's doing a wonderful job!

We've decided to have a Potluck sometime this summer. It will be the same day RyRy is baptised. We still have to ask a special uncle if he'll be her godfather. So once we get that done, coordinate a day with the godparents and the church, we'll let you all know.

Our June weekends are starting to fill up! On the 13th, we're heading to Cassville to Kristopher's 5 year class reunion. We missed mine last year because we were camping with my brothers and sisters. It was fine because it was at a classmates bar in North Andover and unbenounced to many of my siblings, parents and friends, I was pregnant at that time. Kris's class reunion is much more family orientated. It's a potluck at the park for everyone and their kids. Many of them do have kids but he's one of the few with 2 kids.

On the 20th, my cousin Tiffany graduates from Lodi High School and she's having her party that day so we'll probably go to that. And I think my uncle is turning 50 the following weekend so we'll probably celebrate that.

We're grilling out the entire weekend this weekend. I love the grill! Kristopher showed me how to turn it on and off. The last one we had was dangerous. We had to light a paper towel, lift the lid and throw it in. It would poof! I was so afraid my hair would caught on fire that I never used it. This one, which we've had for like 4 years, is so easy. All I have to do is turn the propane on and push a button! Easy a pie!

For supper tonight, we had my mom's yummy Italian dressing Chicken. I marinated it all day in Zesty Italian dressing. It was GOOD! We had burgers and potatoes for dinner.

Tomorrow we're going to have BLTs for dinner and KABOBs for supper. YUMMY! My Kabobs consist of Ribeye, little Red potatoes, red and green bell peppers, tomato and pineapple. I am marinating my Ribeye in Lawry's Steak and Chop (with garlic and pepper) 30 minute marinade (but doing it overnight). It's wonderful.

I made a double layer chocolate fudge cake with chocolate icing and sprinkles to top! It did not frost well at all. I had to use a knife to frost it and it still looks horrible. Good thing it still tastes good. I normally use a spacula to frost or my frosting long knife thingy. Kris and T didn't care so neither do I.

Overall, this weekend has been amazing. My home is amazingly dirty and messy and is dire need of a cleaning! Which I fully intend on doing once it's dark and kids are in bed. Which won't be for a while because T took a 3 hour nap this afternoon to accompany his 1 and half hour nap from this morning. And he slept in till 7:30 am. All the fresh air has tuckered him right out. RyRy of the other hand has been awake for the majority of the day, which is new for her. We're going to cozy up on the sofa and watch a television show before bedtime, take a bath, read a book, then off to dreamy land for these kiddos.

Though we have tomorrow off, I was reminding what tomorrow stands for (through a shlew of emails from Kris's dad(we do read them Kim!))! Take time tomorrow to visit loved ones at the cemetary, thank your marine and remember those who lost their lives for us to have this wonderful freedom! Have a wonderful evening!!

Call me Grandma...

The last 24 hours have been very very very long! We arrived in Iowa City at 8 pm last night. Rylee was taken to an ER room for examination. Blood was drawn, x-rays taken, iv inserted, nose suctioned...at 11:30 pm we were discharged. You must understand that I was told they were going to admit her so we only took the half full canister of oxygen plus 1 more for when we would go home. By 11:30, I had already had to switch to the second canister of oxygen so we had no choice at that hour and time but to go home. We arrived home at 2 am this morning. I was exhausted as all get out. We were suppose to follow up with Dr. Julie or the Peds Acute care clinic in IC so at 7 am we were all up, got ready, took Troy to Tara's and Kris, Rylee and I made the trek to IC for the second time in 12 hours. On the way down, we got hooked up with an appointment with the Peds Acute care, talked to our insurance company and made many many phone calls. The ER discharged Rylee because she didn't have anything severe that showed signs of needing to be admitted. When I talked to NP Diane this morning, she made it sound like we were going to be admitted once we seen Acute care and that Dr. Julie was very worried about infection and growth. However, the Acute care doctor, Donna, was impressed by her growth and sent us home. What the fluff? I mean seriously people! Some are worried and some are not!

On the way home, I called Dr. C office to let him know what was going on and see when he wanted to see her again. I received a phone call from his nurse with Dr. C in the background. It went a little something like this:

Me: Helloooo
Nurse: Mary?
Me: Yes
Nurse: Mary, was Rylee admitted?
Me: No
Nurse (talking to Dr C) No she wasn't...
Dr C (in the background): WHAT!!! REALLY???
Nurse:Really?
Me: Really, we are heading home now.
Dr. C (in the background): REALLY? mumble mumble
Nurse: Mary, are you her grandmother
Me: No, I'm her mother
Nurse: Oh, sorry. Dr. C went to see a patient. We'll call you back on when he wants to see her.
Me: OK, Thank you.

She really asked me if I was Rylee's grandma. WHAT?

Anyway, Dr. C just called me back. I think that he is beyond mad! He is very...extremely worried about her weight and growth. We chatted a little bit about what happened while we were there on both trips. He wants to see her on Friday. **SIGH** I am not sure what he is going to do. Kris and I are both worried about her as well. Dr. C is much more familiar with her than any other doctor at this point in time. If he's worried, than I am too. She has been stagnate at 8 lbs for over a week. She actually has fell below 8 lbs now. We seen her growth curve. She has been consistently between the 3rd to 10th percentile on a preemie growth curve. Which is great and all but you can the downward turn it taking. I believe that second opinions will be in order. For the most part, we liked IC but we may be taking a trip up to UW Children's hospital very soon...with Dr. C in the backseat (just kidding!)

Oh man, we're tired!! Tonight, we're going to have a relaxing night cleaning, washing and cooking!! My house looks like it's been ransacked! Thank goodness for the extra long weekend this weekend. Enjoy your evening. I know we will!

Numb...

As I sit here in this quiet house (right now), I'm heartbroken. Yesterday afternoon Dawn, the home nurse, called Dr. C to tell him that Rylee lost another half ounce. His nurse called me and scheduled an appointment for this afternoon. After examining her, he decided to call Dr. Julie in Iowa City and have me wait until he talked to her. Dr. Julie, Dr. C and the PICU doctor in Iowa City all decided it would be best for Rylee to be admitted tonight. In a few short minutes, Kris will be home with Troy and we will pack for who only knows how long. I'm just numb. I had her home for only a month. Now she's going back. She has quit growing. She is on the highest calorie formula they can mix. We're out of options at home. She is also still having bloody stools. Dr. C thinks that since Troy had such a severe milk and soy allergy that Rylee is following suit. She has severe congestion which are causing more apnea spells. I don't want to take her back but it is what is best for her. In my heart, I knew this day was coming. She has fell below 8 lbs. Please pray for her tonight. She needs it...bad!!

Another Not Me! Monday

This week I did not yell at my husband because he turned on the burner with the cover still on and almost burnt down the house! So then I certainly did not turn a burner on with a plastic ziploc container lid on it, melting it to nothing and filling our entire house with stinky, white smoke.

I did not take my son to the park for a play date only for his to get diarrhea and had to change his diaper on the front seat of my Jeep. Then I did not sit on the swing with him, acting as those that diaper never happened, for him to get down and see the back of his pants, my leg and his legs are soaked from diarrhea. Since I didn't do those things, I certainly did not change his diaper again and let him ride home pantless.

I did not lay down with my daughter and fall asleep for 2 and half hours. Then go to bed at 10 and sleep in until 7 on a work morning!! Nope Not Me!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Today is a monumental day in our household. Rylee has been home with us for an entire month today!! It's amazing that she's been home a month already. I can't believe it.

In her first month home, many people have came to visit her. My dad, however, still has not. I am not sure what his deal is. Who knows... As for immediate family, Rylee has met all of her aunts and uncles with the exception of Kris's brother and my brother Jamie (whom she'll probably never meet).

In the last month, Rylee has battled a severe cold, slight phenomena, and bloody stools. She has been to the doctor 11 times and had 12 at home nurse visits.

In the last month, Rylee went out to "eat" for the first time, wore a dress (many times), went to Madison, went shopping, rode in a car, saw her reflection in a mirror, slept in her own bed in her room, officially outgrew her preemie clothes, reached 8 lbs, been picked on by her brother, got a puppy kiss, been held the entire night to make her feel better, taken oral medicine, went to the bank and wore hair clips and headbands. She accomplished a lot!

In our house, it's a YAY! for Rylee day!

Mary

Dun dun dunnnnnn....

Rylee has a problem when it comes to the big number 2. Last night and today, her number 2s, suppository induced, have been full of blood. I am not sure what exactly is going on. I called the HELP nurse last night. She got ahold of Dr. C and he said it was cause by her high calorie formula and he would see us today. He also called later last night. Did I ever mention how much we absolutely love him? He's an amazing doctor, cares a ton about his patients and is very dedicated to his job (hence still at the office at 9 pm on 2 occasions). I took Rylee to see him this afternoon. Her lungs are doing well, he prescribed the nebulizer for 2 more months for Rylee, and she sounds "good". We had the "scoop on poop" talk. He said if this happens tonight, which it did, to call him and we'll have to do a test which requires a barium enema. Sure doesn't sound any fun to me. Hopefully, this clears up soon.

And Rylee is now sailing on the 8 lb train. It only took us a month plus some to get out of the 7 lb mark. She'll probably still be smaller than T was when he was born at her 4 month appointment.

Dr. C showed me her growth curve. It is consistent with the normal baby curve except it's way way way below it. He is going to order a special preemie growth curve so that way we can see where she actually sits.

As for Troy, he's running around mad crazy!! Last night he crashed at 6 pm and being a bad mommy, I was just going to let him sleep and not wake him for dinner. Except when Dr. C called at 9 pm, that ended the sleep. He was awake for another 2 hours and I finally took him to bed with me. The little turd slept in then until 8 am and I finally had to wake him up because we had to get ready to leave. I am going to let him stay up longer tonight than usual. First of all, he has energy to burn yet. And I am not ready to sit down and cuddle with him yet.

Rylee is due to eat soon. I will feed her, get her snuggled in bed, then take on T. Gray's Anatomy is on tonight, which I believe is a 2 hour season finale event, which is our favorite Thursday night gig. And since the invention of the DVR, I absolutely can NOT watch a show at the actual time. I HATE commercials so I tape the show and fast forward through all the commercials. It cuts the time of the show in half. Plus, I don't have to wait through the commercials when the show cuts at a good, suspense filled part.

This weekend, I am going to take my niece Jalyn and nephew Jared around to garage sales. Jared is looking for Playstation 2 games and I am not sure what Jalyn is looking for.

Saturday afternoon, we are thinking of heading up the Madison way. A bunch of my family are getting together at my Aunt Lisa and Uncle Jeff's house in Oregon. One of my best friends of all time, Annie, also lives in Oregon so we may visit her too if she doesn't have anything going on. And we may just visit my most favorite store ever...Babies R Us for some much needed diapers and wipes and formula. This all depends on how our kids are feeling and how we are feeling. We've been home bound for the last couple of weekends, not complaining it's been AWESOME after 14 straight weekends in IC, but an afternoon out to meet and greet might be nice.

Have a great night!!

Rain Rain go away...

I was just watching The Drs. They featured Adam and Aimee Freeman, the mom and dad of Kayleigh, who I told you pasted away Monday night. To read a short synopsis of the episode click on this: Kayleigh's Story.

Dawn, the home nurse, came this afternoon. She weighed Miss Rylee. She is up to 8 lbs! Way to go RyRy! 8 lbs seemed so so so far away 3 and half months ago. It's so crazy to think that in a couple short weeks RyRy will be going to see Dr. C (again) for her 4 month well child check up and have her 4 month shots. CRAZY!

Enjoy this rainy, dreary yucky day. YUCK!

Oh what a day...

Well this day started out with one of the saddest things I've ever read. A little girl named Kayleigh passed away this morning. To read her story, click on her name. A short version is when she was born she weighed 1 lb and has had a series of complications since. After a recent surgery, Kayleigh was pronounced brain dead. Kayleigh's brain started to swell. It was looking that the family was going to get to take Kayleigh home, to her own room and own bed. Kayleigh has never made it home in her entire 11 months of age. Please pray for Kayleigh and her family. Pray that the next time they see her they won't see those empty eyes, they'll see the beautiful ones like the day before surgery. My heart goes out to this family.

T and RyRy had to go to the doctor. T needed to have his lungs and ears checked. RyRy had to have a weight check. Dr. C looked RyRy over first. He decided to have a chest xray of her taken. She sounded yucky. Plus she was starting to run a temp and cough profusely. T, however, had clear lungs and ears. His cough is irritated by his sinuses. He is now on a new antibiotic. Hopefully this helps his runny nose and cough.

As for RyRy, she had to be whisked off to the xray. I had both kids a the doctor's office by myself. I called DadD who was suppose to have a final at that time but the prof never showed. He came over. He was just a tad too late. The nurse wheeled T out while I was whisked to radiology with RyRy. This is the contraption they put poor kids in. Now this child has to be a good 22-25 lbs. Imaging a 7 lb, 15 oz, 19 inch long "newborn". She was completely submerged in this thing. It's terrible. I had to stand in front of her holding her hands up above her head and on to her head so it didn't flop backwards. The radiologist had to stick towels around her to help me hold her otherwise she flopped over. T had this done twice. It is utterly ridiculous to watch. It's as bad as the ROP eye exams. Those also seem so inhumane.

Her xrays showed an onset of slight phenomena. T was clear of the nebulizer and RyRy now needs to have nebulizer treatments every 4 hours. T and RyRy were also prescribed Cefdinir. T is taking 2 mL for his 29 lbs self and RyRy is taking half a mL for her 7 lb, 15 oz self. The pharmacist asked me how much RyRy weighed, he was surprised be her dosage. On Friday, I spent $100 on perscriptions. Today, I spent another $70. The pharmacist only mixed one bottle because there was enough for both kids in it. Otherwise, if I would've had to by two, it would've been $140. Holy moly!

We received a bill from UIHC yesterday. I am not sure what exact cost of RyRy's stay has cost our insurance company but it's on the better side of a $1,000,000.00. I really do have the million dollar baby!!

We have to go see Dr. C on Thursday. He's not really comfortable with RyRy state right now. Hopefully she improves so she can stay out of the hospital. He wants to see her on Thursday and if things haven't improved, we'll be making a rushed trip to Iowa City. **Big Sigh** Someday, we'll be normal but for right now, life is nothing short of an adventure.

Enjoy the 73° sunny weather. We are...inside! Tator tot casserole for dinner tonight.

Tuck your kids in extra tight tonight and give them an extra kiss good night.

Not Me!

As I stated last night, today is Not Me! Monday!! Here we go...

I did not take photos of my son who got stuck in the humidifier when he was sliding off my bed.

I did not video tape my son with his new slide and laugh when he fell and bonked his head. Then, I did not tell my husband to come watch it.

I certainly did not take pure advantage of my husband on Mother's Day by getting out of changing every single messy diaper.

I definitely did not scoop my sleeping son out of his bed last night just to put him in mine and snuggle when my husband was in bed too. Nope Not ME!








As for more serious, not so mean things. Today was my first day back to work. I felt like it was the first day of school. I was nervous and excited all at the same time. But it was just like what it was when I left. I only worked until noon so that wasn't so bad. I did have to decline a couple who were trying to open a savings account.

I feel very satisfied that I am now contributing to our household. I am not just spending all the money and not earning any. I love that at the end of the month, I will have a paycheck. Nothing special after flex and insurance but a paycheck none the less. I love it!

When I got home, T was so so so excited to see me. I love that too!

Happy Mother's Day

Today was a very uneventful but fun, wonderful, fantastic day. Today, I was celebrated because I am a mommy of 2 gorgeous babies. DadD, T and RyRy gave me a homemade card this morning and DadD made me french toast...my favorite! (though he had to ask me how to make it!) It was delicious!

We then got all dressed and went to church. Today was Father Flanagan's birthday along with my niece Jalyn. So we sang Father the Happy Birthday song and he blessed all the mothers of the congregation.

Jalyn and her family spent the afternoon at Jumpin' Janes. From what her mom told me, they had a blast. Now I am stoked to go there soon.

After church, we stopped by my grandma's house. As it turns out, Grandma was alone today. (She's going to see most all of her children in the next week, no need for traveling 2 weeks in a row). She made a meatloaf and salad and cake...so she invited us to eat dinner with her. T was a turd as usual. She has rolling chairs and he slipped right off one. Then he was running, tripped over his own feet and went face first into the carpeted floor. I think she was overly grateful we stopped otherwise she would've had to eat the entire meatloaf herself. We helped her put a dent in it anyway. I love love that lady more than words. She's amazing.

We headed home after that. T was is direr need of a nap! All of laid down and took a 2 hour nap. At 3:30 I finally got up, put a roast together and threw it in the oven. While the roast and veggies roasted, I made a crazy amount of meals for freezing. I made 2 Tator Tot Casseroles, Lasagna, Pizza Burgers (like BBQ just tastes like pizza), Chicken and Potatoes Casserole, Chicken and Veggie mix for another meal and started marinating my chicken for tomorrow night. It took the entire 2 hours but it's done! You can find the recipes below.

After supper we took some Mother's day photos. Parden T's beat up face. We're not exactly sure what happen to his forehead but it looks nasty.


He loves his baby sister!


Yucky forehead. Parden my facebooking in the background!


He bites when he kisses but initiated this one so I had to take it!


There we got a good one!

Tomorrow is Not Me! Monday! I have some terrible things I've done this week. Absolutely terribly funny...no, bad mom!

TATER TOT CASSEROLE:
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 30 minutes

1 lb Ground Beef
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup
1 can French cut green beans, drained
2 cups Tater tots

Brown and drain ground beef. Add Cream of Mushroom soup and green beans. Pour into a greased square baking dish. Cover top with Tater tots. Bake at 350° for half an hour or until tater tots are golden brown.

LASAGNA:
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 1 hour

1 lb Ground beef
32 oz Spaghetti sauce
2 C cottage cheese
2 C cheddar cheese (shredded)
2 C mozzarella cheese (shredded)
2 eggs
12 lasagna noodles
1/4 C. water

Preheat oven to 375°. Brown and drain ground beef, add spaghetti sauce; set aside. Mix cottage cheese, 1.5 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, 1.5 cups shredded cheddar cheese and eggs. In 9x13 inch baking dish, spread 1.5 C. of meat sauce. Place 4 uncooked noodles on top, spread half of cheese mixture. Then, layer 1.5 C meat sauce, 4 uncooked noodles and remainder of cheese mixture. Add 4 more uncooked noodles, remainder of meat sauce and the remaining half cup of mozzarella cheese and half cup of cheddar cheese. Pour 1/4 cup water around edge of pan. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake 45 minutes, remove foil and bake an additional 15 minutes. Let stand for 15 minutes before serving.

PIZZA BURGERS:
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 1.5 hours

2 lbs ground beef
1/2 C. onion, chopped
1 can tomato sauce
1 small can tomato paste
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp oregano
salt and pepper to taste
1 C Mozzarella cheese

Brown ground beef with onions, add seasonings. Move into crockpot or electric skillet. Add tomato sauce and tomato paste. Simmer for 1.5 hours. Sprinkle with cheese on top for last 5-10 minutes or until melted. Serve on buns.

CHICKEN AND POTATOES CASSEROLE:
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 30 minutes

1 to 2 C. chicken, cooked and cubed
1 can Cream of Chicken soup
1 can corn, drained
1 C cheddar cheese
2 C Tater tots

Cook chicken and cube. Mix with Cream of Chicken soup, corn and 1/2 C of cheddar cheese. Pour into greased square baking dish. Cover with tater tots and remaining cheese. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until tater tots are golden brown.

CHICKEN AND VEGETABLES:
Prep: 6 minutes
Cook: 25 minutes

1.5 Tbsp Margarine
1 tsp Garlic powder
1/2 C. onions, chopped
1.4 lbs, Chicken, boneless and skinless
10 oz pkg. Cut green beans, frozen
1/4 tsp Pepper

Melt margarine in heavy skillet. Add garlic and onions; stir until blended. Cook over medium heat, until tender, about 5 minutes. Remove from skillet. Place chicken in skillet. Cook over medium heat until chicken is thoroughly done and no longer pink; about 12 minutes. Remove chicken, keep warm. Place frozen green beans, pepper and cooked onion in same skillet. Cover and cook over medium-low heat until beans are tender, about 5 minutes. Add chicken to veggie mixture. Continue cooking, stirring occassionally, until heated through - 3 minutes.

**NOTE: I frozen my veggie mixture and chicken. When ready to eat, place veggie mixture ontop of potato cakes (see below) in square baking dish; put chicken breasts on top of veggies. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until heated thoroughly.

POTATO CAKES:
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 5 minutes

2 C potatoes, cooked, peeled and mashed
1 egg
1 Tbsp flour
1 Tbsp milk
1/4 C vegetable oil

Mix mashed potatoes, egg, flour and milk thoroughly. Shape into flat cakes, about 1/2 inch thick. Heat oil in skillet and add potato cakes. Cook until golden brown and thoroughly heated.

ENJOY!!

Fun day...

Today was our girls day out with my sister and Jalyn. At the last minute, I decided to take RyRy along so DadD didn't have both kids by himself all day. Literally, my sister and I ran around the entire day!

Last night, we decided to hit up some garage sales. I got quite a bit of clothes for RyRy, a picture for her room, a new purse, and a few things for Jalyn. Carmen made out well too.

This morning, we decided to go around to some more. We started at 8:30ish and were done by 10...finally. It was a long morning. Carmen got a few things. I had 2 huge purchases though. I got T a Step 2 slide/gym thingy and a table with 2 benches. This will fit 6 people easily with the possibility of 8.

This afternoon, Carmen, Jalyn, and I, along with RyRy, went and got our nails done. Carmen and Jalyn got a pedi too. They are all beautiful.

After the nail salon, we went to eat at Olive Garden. Then grocery shopping. Overall we did well. We had a super duper blast today. Jalyn was so excited about her nails, she kept talking about them all day. It was a great mom and daughter day!

Tomorrow for Mother's Day, we don't have much planned. We are going to church and visiting Grandma since we got home too late today to go. And then we are going to put our comfys on and stay home the rest of the day.

Overall, it's been a wonderful weekend.

Here we go again...

T has a double ear infection again!! When will they help this poor kid? They took a nose swab to check for influenza and RSV. Lovely...just lovely. Now we also have to give him nebulizer treatments every 4 hours...lovely.

Sure didn't know about Platteville City Wide Garage sales. I've never been a garage saler but I'm trying to be a thrifty, frugal mom. Plus T out grows his clothes so dang fast, I can't stand buying him expensive clothes when I could get gently used ones for a quarter of the price. Plus there are some household items that I am looking for, nothing real serious. Carmen and I might go around later tonight and maybe tomorrow.

DadD is going to go to his last class of the semester this afternoon. He has a few finals next week. I can't wait for school to be out for the summer. And I'm totally excited for him to be home on Friday nights now. We can actually be a "family" Friday through Sunday now. YAY!! Though, I would rather have the extra pay but 32 hours is better than unemployment!! Enjoy the weekend!! I know that I am going to.

Round 2

2 posts in one day?? I just had to tell you about my frugal dinner I made tonight. We had Mock KFC, peas, Lipton Chicken flavored noodles and T had a banana for dessert. You can find the recipes below. I do have to tell you that this dinner, enough to feed 4 people, cost only $5.00. Woohoo!! The Mock KFC is a seasoning that you mix up that can be used many many times. It makes quite a bit! Actually, the last time that I made a batch was Sept 2008 and kept it in an airtight container. I had to make another batch today because I was getting low. Holy cow!! I do have a confession to make though. I was going to take a picture of the meal only to find out that I was using the same colored plate as the picture I took on Monday. I am in LOVE with Fiestaware so none of my place settings are the same color. And with 11 place setting right now, with my eye on 2 more, I choose the same colored dish? BORING!! Enjoy our meal.

THURSDAY
Mock KFC:

1 TBSP Paprika
2 envelopes Lipton's Tomato Cup-a-soup
3 C Flour
2 envelopes Good Season's Italian Dressing
1 tsp Salt or Seasoning Salt

Mix all together well and store in air-tight container.

To use:
Melt butter and dip chicken pieces. Take buttered pieces and dip in KFC mix. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes.

**NOTE: I use chicken tenderloins and they work FABULOUS for kids!!**

Add with a can of peas and Knorr, formally Lipton, Chicken flavored Pasta side. Enjoy!

FAMOUSNESS!!

Yesterday, I had to go to my 6 week postpartum checkup...ahem..only 8 weeks late. Anyway, Dr. B came in and told me that I am famous! A Dr. H that goes around to all OB clinics and hospitals in Iowa and "checks" things over told Dr B about a 23 year old woman, pregnant with her second child, ruptured membranes for 13 days, absolutely NO fluid left, baby breech....BUT baby turned around at the last minutes...born naturally. He's simply amazed and has been talking about this 23 year old woman and premature child for 2 months now at all his visits that he makes. That 23 year old woman, now 24, is ME!! And the premature child is my amazing, full of surprises little RyRy! He now wants to meet with me and have a "chat"! AMAZING! FAMOUS!, to the OB world anyway. Not to mention, Dr. B is very proud. He told me, he was sorry he missed it. He went on to say..."maybe next time..." I told him, "there will be no next time, I PROMISE!"

My blood pressure was fine!! I have to do a fasting glucose check since I was un-diagnosed with gestational diabetes. That should be fun. After a series of questions, he told me I definitely do NOT have the baby blues. Just chronic fatigue...comes with the territory though.

I went to the bank to chat about coming back to work. Deb was surprised that I was ready to come back. They will work with me as much as possible. Next week, I will be at work when Kris can not be at home. The following weeks, until RyRy is off oxygen and the apnea monitor, I will be leaving work at 2 pm, Monday through Thursday and working all day on Friday and probably most every Saturday, to make as many hours as I can. Once RyRy is off all the "stuff", Aunt Carmen and Uncle Joe will be watching RyRy from 3 to 5ish while Kris and I are both at work. T will continue to go to Tara's during this time. Thank God for Aunt Carmen and Uncle Joe...they're the best EVER!!

Speaking of Aunt Carmen...we're doing a girls day out on Saturday. For Mother's Day, Carmen and I are getting our nails done and she is getting her toes done too (not so much for me, I'm not the touch my feet type of girl). And Jalyny is coming too. She is also getting a manicure and pedicure for her birthday. I can NOT believe that my Jalyny is already going to be 6. Then Avery will turn 4 and Lexie will turn 6! But the shocker of them all, is Jared turning 9! This child has feet the same size as mine and is just about as tall as me...I don't know when this all happened. And he's so mature. What happened here? My lovies are growing up...fast...! My present to Jalyn is to take her, while on our Girls Day Out, shopping for some summer clothes. She can pick them out. I am not sure what I will be getting Jared...I'll probably let him pick too. We'll see.

I am going to try to get some things done while my babies are napping...in their own beds....in their own room. Love it! Love it!

Fun times...

Home nurse Dawn came this morning. RyRy is up an ounce from Monday. Yesterday, we all just hung out at home so really there's nothing new on the home front.

As I said before, my sister and I are planning meals for the week. Monday night, T and I had Oven Crispy Chicken and last night we had meatballs and elbow macaroni spaghetti. Tonight, we're having Hamburger Casserole. You can see the recipes below.

Last night, while I was waiting for RyRy to wake up for a feeding, I made a slide show of her journey through the NICU. Enjoy!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

MONDAY
Oven Crispy Chicken
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 30 minutes

1.5 lb Chicken, cut-up
1/4 C Milk
1/2 C Flour
1 tsp. Paprika
1/2 tsp. Pepper
1 C Corn Flakes, slightly crushed
4 Tbsp Vegetable Oil

Place milk in large bowl. Add chicken pieces. Combine flour, paprika and pepper on plate. Left chicken pieces from milk and reserve milk. Coat chicken thoroughly with seasoned flour and place on a wire rack until all pieces have been coated. Redip chicken into reserved milk. Place crushed cereal on place. Pace chicken pieces on crushed cereal. Using 2 forks, turn chicken pieces in cereal to coat. Place chicken on a foil-lined baking tray; drizzle oil over chicken. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes. Turn chicken over, continue baking until chicken is thoroughly cooked and crispy, about 15 minutes.

Baked Crispy Potatoes:
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 30 minutes

4 lbs Potatoes
4 Tbsp Vegetable oil
1 tsp Ground Cumin
1/4 tsp Red Pepper

Lightly coat 7x12x1 inch pan with oil. Was potatoes, cut in half lengthwise. Place cut sides of potatoes on the oil pan; rub potatoes in the oil, turn potatoes over so that cut sides are facing up. Mix Cumin and red pepper together. Sprinkle over potatoes. Back at 400° until potatoes are golden and tender, about 20 minutes.



TUESDAY
Baked Meatballs:
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 12 minutes

1/4 C Onions, minced
1 Tbsp Vegetable oil
2 lbs Ground Beef
2 eggs
3/4 C Bread Crumbs
1/4 C Milk
1/8 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Pepper
2 tsp Onion Powder
1/2 tsp Garlic Powder

Preheat oven to 400°. Grease baking sheet lightly with oil. Add 1 Tbsp oil and ionion to small skillet. Cook over medium heat, until tender, about 3 minutes. Mix remaining ingredients together in bowl, add onions. Mix until blended, using a large serving spoon. Shape into 1 - 2 inch balls, place on baking sheet. Bake until thoroughly cooked, about 10-12 minutes.
**NOTE: Serve with spaghetti sauce and make into a meatball sandwich.

WEDNESDAY
Hamburger Casserole:
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 30 minutes

1 lbs Ground Beef
1 (10 3/4 oz) can Tomato soup
1 can Whole Kernal corn, drained
4 - 5 medium potatoes, mashed

Brown the ground beef and drain. Mix ground beef, tomato soup and corn in large bowl. Put already prepared mashed potatoes ontop. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes.

ENJOY!!

Mary

Naptime quiet

T is taking a long nap today. He fought tooth and nail to take one so he kind of started out late. But still long nonetheless.

I can't help but stare at my little girl this afternoon. I just read a post by a woman named Sara who had a little girl named Elizabeth. She was very premature and weighed on 1 lb, 5 oz. She lost her battle this morning and is in God's hands now. Please pray for her parents, Sara and John, and big brother, Andrew, as they start their journey down a tough road.

RyRy has overcome so many obstacles over the last 3 months. She went to see Dr. Connolly today. Her weight was up to 7 lb, 12 oz. He is very happy with that. In the 2 weeks that she has been home, she's only gained 6 oz. BUT, we had some issues with oxygen tubing being too long and not getting enough oxygen to her. That was a set back. Then to make matters worse, she picked up a stuffy nose. That was also a set back. The nose is starting to clear. Hopefully in the next few days, her weight skyrockets. But 4 and half lbs in 3 months isn't that bad.

Dr. C told us today that she is his 3rd preemie. RyRy is the smallest out of all 3. And when the other 2 landed in hospital over the weekend, he thought the worst for our sweet girl. But he seen her today and that put his worries at ease.

NP Diane from IC called this afternoon. We are going to see her and Dr. Julie on June 5th. We are very optimist that we will finally get rid of the oxygen and apnea monitor then. This may also be, fingers crossed, when we can take the high calorie formula down a notch. We need to get her on something a little more concentrated to help with BM area. We both tired of the nightly suppository job.

Sidenote: Dr. C also told us today that over the weekend he was reading an article about formula. In the article they list the highest cal formula at on 26 and our sweet RyRy is on 30. He just laughed.

I believe that this week is the last week I will hope "sitting on my behind." Since next week is finals week and DadD will be home during the day, it's time for me to get back to work. As long as work works with me on a schedule. I am sure they will. I am excited for the day that I am at work for an entire 40 hours. That means my life is back to "normal" and RyRy is doing well. Yay!

I took some pictures over the weekend. I did get a photo of RyRy with my grandma. That was very important to me since I miss the many many opportunities to get one of T with my grandpa before he passed away. I wasn't going to make that mistake again. Enjoy!

Monday Monday...

MckMama has a little fun with her blog that she calls Not Me! Monday! You simply post about embarrassing things that you done over the week. It's fun to read everyone's.

Well, this week I did not watch my 16 month old play in the clean, dry clothes in the dryer in just his diaper.


I also did not hide my dirty dishes before the home nurse came.

And I did not let my son play in the dog cage with the dog in it!

I did not take pictures of my sleeping son after he woke up and drug his wheeel barrel to bed to snuggle with.


I certainly did not drop an entire bag of powdered sugar on the kitchen which exploded all over the place...nope, Not Me!

Tryin' something new

We did lots of new things today. First we rearranged the kitchen a NEW way! And I really like it by the way. We also made our coat closet into my NEW pantry...not really new, rather transformed. We moved the coat closet over to the laundry closet...they now share joint custody of the space. It works rather well! We don't have many coats to wear right now. I prefer a sweatshirt anyway.

We went out to eat as an entire family for the first time today. We also went to church as an entire family for the first time today. By the way, the Diocese decided to stop doing the sign of peace and shared challis because of the Swine Flu. That's new too!

We also took RyRy to a couple of NEW places, to her any way. We went to Target and got a few pieces to add to T's summer attire. We went to Red Robin for dinner. We went to Sam's Club for a little shopping.

Carmen and I have decided that we are going to try to do something NEW. We are going to be thrifty. By this I mean, clip coupons, shop sales and make grocery lists. We are trying to figure out how to save a few dimes and this is what we came up with. We are going plan out our meals for the week. We are going to clip coupons and look at sale ads. We are going to plan our meals around the sales.

I have never been a coupon clipper. Rather, I've never even looked at coupons. I also never shopped the sales. And I've never planned a meal more than 1 day early. I HAVE made grocery lists but have a hard time sticking to it. I am very optomistic about this. I am going to put my best effort into it. Plus I have my trusty sidekick to kick my behind and whip into shape. We'll keep each other in line.

I am even going to make my own dinner rolls for the week. I tried a recipe that works wonderfully. It makes enormous rolls. They don't taste that bad either.

Therefore, I went to Sam's to get a start to my NEW pantry. I got flour, sugar, brown sugar, Regu (surprise surprise right mom!), canned veggies, canned soups...the list goes on and on. But my NEW pantry looks pretty good. I also bought Pampers, cleaning supplies, Shout...the goes on and on too. It will work out well. I have a good feeling in this NEW plan.

It's 10 o'clock. My son is still awake! He just dumped my salt shaker all over the table, chair and floor. Right now, he is closing himself in Patch's 'house'. Crazy child is the Energizer bunny. Eventually, he'll run out of juice and crash. And at...oh, 6 am he'll be recharged.

Oh, 6 am...the start of a NEW day...

IC Dr. appts update

After dinner tonight (Friday is leftover night or pizza night), we took the entire family for a walk. The entire family meaning out 2 hounds, Patch and Trixy, included. DadD took T and Patch and I took RyRy (along with her oxygen in a backpack and her apnea monitor tucked in the stroller) and Trixy. We had 2 well behaved kids and 2 well behaved dogs. T loved it. He was squealing the entire time.

Yesterday, I took RyRy to Iowa City to meet with Dr. Julie and she also had an eye exam to check her ROP.

Dr. Julie and NP Diane looked at RyRy for over an hour and a half. They are very happy with her progress thus far. She is right on par with a newborn baby. Her weight, surprisingly enough, is in the 17 percentile for her gestational age. They are happy with that! As for right now, she will continue to be on a half liter of oxygen until our next visit. We are to continue feeding her every 2 hours. Dr. Julie was more concerned that feeding every 2 hours means that I am up every hour and half or so. She could tell that I'm tired, living off caffeine, and in need of a long, long nap. She seemed to be more concerned about my pale color and sleepy eyes than RyRy at all. If it helps RyRy I have no problem doing it. Kris has been helping too! Remember, he's SUPER DAD! He really is!
They want RyRy to gain an ounce a day. So far she is averaging about half an ounce a day.

Cognitively and developmentally, RyRy is on par with a newborn. NP Diane rung a bell on each side of RyRy face. Though she didn't turn her head toward the sound, she did raise her eyebrows (or where eyebrows are suppose to be) and got big eyed. She also held up a couple of toys and had RyRy try to follow them. She followed both and had no problems there. Then she shined a flashlight and tried to have RyRy follow that. All she did for this test, was stare straight ahead. It didn't seem to bother her at all. I am not sure exactly what that means but I'm sure they'll repeat that little test.

This is wonderful because it means that RyRy can see and hear! I was pretty sure she could see, I wasn't sure what or how much, and sometimes, I thought that she could hear us, again I wasn't sure what or how much. However, since we've brought RyRy home, she has interacted with T talking and looking at her. She stares at him and watches closely when he's right up in her face! These tests just clarified what I thought and hoped.

Her ROP exam went very well also. I am not sure if it improving but we don't have to go back for 2 months. Something has to be working, right?
Off the track a little....RyRy's eyes needed to be dilated for her eye exam. The location of the eye specialty clinic in UIHC is not in an area with drywalled walls and maybe a window or two...NO, this has the entire wall and ceiling of windows. It was so bright in the place, it made my eyes hurt and they weren't even dilated!
Poor RyRy hates...I mean absolutely HATES....getting the drops. She makes it 10 times worse because she squeezes her eyes shut very very tight! It's never really that bad. It would just help her in the long run. You and I know that but she doesn't.

We have to see Dr. Julie and NP Diane in the first week of June. We also have to go down on the 29th of June for a repeat ROP eye exam. RyRy also has to go see Dr. Connolly on Monday for a checkup. Dawn, the home nurse, is coming on Wednesday and Friday next week. I have a doctor appt on Wednesday as well.

My life has literally turned into doctors appts, home nurse appts, genetics appts, eye exams, oxygen drop offs...the list goes on and on! I also talk to Iowa City in some department every single business day! I have started to carry a small calendar with me that I write all of the appointments down. It's a full time job in itself.

And get this...my dad called me on Wednesday on his lunch break. When I asked him what he was doing, he said "I am about to go back to work...you should try it sometime..." What the? I honestly think that he thinks I sit around all day on my butt and not do anything. RyRy is a full time job (remember feeding every 2 hours) plus throw T (remember a crazy, no stop 16 month old who gets into and climbs on EVERYTHING!) into the mix and trying to keep everything straight with appts, bills, groceries, housework, bath times, diapers, bottles (have to mix the formula a special way), oxygen levels, apnea spell logging...I am working...very very hard. I am not a sit at home, all day on my behind kind of person. I LOVE GOING TO WORK! I do believe that I am a better mom because I go to work. But right now, RyRy needs me. Not to mention, no babysitter in a 100 mile radius would even think of taking her right now. Not with apnea spells and oxygen. It's way too much work. And I don't feel comfortable at all leaving her with someone else. Not yet. I haven't even left her alone with Kris. Not that I don't trust her with him, there just hasn't been an opportunity.

My dad is also upset that we are keeping our pets. Nothing I ever do is good enough for this man. He thinks I'm slob and idiot and (his words, not mine and pardon the language)a fuck up. I know I'll never live up to his standards and I accept that. And yet his opinion of me and my kids and what I do, matters...a lot. He's my dad. He's suppose to be my "daddy" and I'm suppose to be his "daddy's girl" (I'm his only daughter, I thought that was my privilege). I just want him to be proud of me, at least once, but he's not. Maybe someday.

T and RyRy's daddy is proud of them and I'm proud of them. I'm proud that I'm their mommy and that they're my son and daughter. Being a mommy is the best job privilege in the world.