The Norton's

Ryan - 17 months (My Sweet Valentine)

2010-01-16T21:18:00.001-08:00

Ryan is growing up so fast. He continues to be such a little character!

He's still the sweet angel he's always been. He's really good about saying "please" - and we're working on "thank you" - although they are sometimes used interchangeably. He has begun to show signs of terrible two's by way of his short temper when things don't go his way! I often get a hit (mostly to the face) when I've taken him away from something... and he throws things when he's not happy... but it doesn't take long for him to say sorry and/or lean in for a kiss before he's back to sweet angel.

Ryan is such a little mover. He's not one for sitting still - he's always on the go! It's always funny to pick up Ryan from daycare to see him running up and down the hallway and all around the playroom. It's hard to imagine that he keeps that up all day long. Boy, to bottle all that energy.

Ryan continues to be Parker's biggest fan. He climbs all over him, throws his ball, yells at him when he barks, chases him with his toys... ah the life. I'm sure Parker enjoys every minute of the attention. He's such a great dog!

Ryan is such an easy kid to put to bed. When it's time to sleep - he walks upstairs to his room, we put him in his crib, hand him a bottle and a blanket and walk out. He takes 2 hour naps (2x a day). He goes to bed at 8p and wakes up around 7a. We're pretty lucky - and we know it!

Ryan's vocabulary continues to grow on a daily basis. I'm sure what we have come to know as "language" would be quite difficult to decode for the normal person - but it's amazing how much he comprehends direction and separately what he is able to communicate back. (Comprehension is much better)

Some words that come to mind:
Cole, Dilla (Dylan), Ice, Juice, Hot Dog, Baba, Thank You, Please, Mama, Dada, BaPa (Grandpa), Cracker, Muffin, Milk, Cookie, Sock, Remote, Thirsty, This, Hot, Up, Bowl, More, and Diaper.

Ryan understands simple instructions - and points and tries to communicate when he wants/needs something. For instance, I can tell him to pick up his cup (across the room) and he'll look for it - go pick it up - and bring it to me. And when he wants a toy up on the shelf - he'll point to it and "chatter" - for me to get it down. Hey - it all works. I'm sure it's going to be coming together quicker than we can imagine.

Ryan has an infatuation with the vacuum cleaners - and fortunately (or unfortunately) we have many of them. At least he's past the stage of standing in front of the closet door saying "this", "this", "this" - or some other non-stop sound - that mimics chinese water torture - in hopes that he will get to play with the machine. Equally fascinating to him is his cozy coupe fire truck. Dylan pushed him around at lightning speed around the house - which has set the standard of how fast he'd like to go ALL the time. At times I've had to lock the car away from sight just to get him to move on to something that doesn't require a full workout for him to be happy.

Anyways... Jeff and I completely adore this little child. We hope that his personality continues to be charming in the months and years ahead!

New Years Eve: In The Desert With A Rhino

2009-12-31T23:59:00.000-08:00

Another desert trip! The Dodds and the Gomez's joined up with us.

Jeff borrowed a Rhino from his friend Jerry so that Ryan and I could see if we liked the side-by-side experience. We all rode into Randsburg to have lunch at the White House Saloon. I drove - Robyn so bravely rode along - and Kadence and Ryan hung on for dear life in the back seat. Just Kidding. Ryan and Kadence had a great time. Actually, they were able to fall asleep while being bounced, windblown and dusted. I was amazed.

It was nice to be able to go along on a ride. I haven't been able to do that in a couple of years. I think this may be a new addition in the future.

It was a great weekend. Happy New Year to all!

Christmas 2009

2009-12-25T23:00:00.000-08:00

Christmas is such a great time of year - and one that is so special to share with little ones. This was Ryan's second Christmas - and yet he still doesn't "quite" get what's going on with all of the presents.

We got to spend Christmas over a few days:
- We spend Christmas Eve at Jeff's parents
- We spent Christmas Morning at home
- We spent Christmas Day at Jeff's parents
- We spent Christmas Evening with my family
- We hosted dinner at our house for my family

Dylan was excited to get a stereo system for his truck. Ryan's big gift was his Step 2 climber. I was excited by my toaster oven - and Jeff got a variety of gourmet popcorn gifts (popper, specialty corn, seasonings, etc).

Ryan was enamored by the "lytes". He loved to see all of the Christmas lights and decorations.

Thoroughbred Christmas Lights

2009-12-19T23:00:00.000-08:00

Nestled in a neighborhood in Alta Loma is a collection of million dollar homes with the most amazing display of lights and decorations you have ever seen. It is TRULY amazing!

Families pack the streets – kids in wagons, walking, scootering, strollering - all while being treated to caroling, tamales and hot chocolate along the way.

We were joined by our friends – the Dodds, The Tansley’s and the Roolvinks. I suspect that this may be a new Christmas tradition. What an experience!

The Death of Power Wheels

2009-12-06T14:00:00.000-08:00

One ride on the "real" quad - and Ryan will no longer sit in the Power Wheels.

R.I.P. - 11/14/09 - 12/6/09
The Power Wheels was only 23 days old.

You Can Deep Fry ANYTHING

2009-11-30T20:00:00.000-08:00

After borrowing a Turkey fryer from our friends, the Vinci's - we had to get our own. We sampled both Turkey and Prime Rib. (The Prime rib was tricky - not sure we'd do that one again)

Ryan tried to convince me he would turn out the best - but I didn't take him up on it. (Although he is quite the little HAM)

:)

Randsburg

2009-11-29T17:00:00.000-08:00

After spending Thanksgiving Day with Jeff's family, we withheld tradition and did a desert trip. We met up with the Coorey's (Pete, Jennifer, Amanda & Jessica) - and headed out to a location that we had never been before.

Close to the camp location (10 miles or so) is an old mining town called Randsburg - a living ghost town on the Western end of the Mojave desert. Jennifer, the twins, Ryan and I drove into town - and Pete, Jeff and Dylan rode their motorcycles in. The town caters to the off-road crowd. There are more bikes than there are cars. We had lunch, then did a little sight seeing.

The weather ended up getting pretty chilly -there was even snow on the local foothills - so we went home a day early. There's no use spending a night in the desert FREEZING - when you can just pack it all up and drive home!

Ryan's First Quad

2009-11-14T21:25:00.001-08:00

Inspired by our trip to Ocotillo Wells last weekend, we wanted to get Ryan something that he could safely motor around on. Today we bought him a Power Wheels quad. We tested it out on our cul-de-sac.

Ryan infectiously laughed as he figured out how to keep the button pushed to keep the quad going. Getting Ryan OFF the quad might as well have been the end of the world. I guess it's safe to say that he "likes" his new toy.

Ocotillo Wells - November 6-8, 2009

2009-11-08T21:02:00.000-08:00

It's been just over a year since we've been to the desert as a family. Dylan didn't do any racing this season. Besides a couple impromptu rides this year, there has been very little riding. It was nice to get away.

Jeff and I took a day off of work -and Dylan a day off of school - so that we could leave on Friday morning. This would give us 2 nights and 3 days in Ocotillo Wells. The weather was in the low 80s during the day and in the 50s at night. It was a little warmer than we would have liked. But I guess I'd much rather have a little heat than wind.

It was our first time trying to figure out sleeping arrangements with Ryan in the motor home. We brought his port-a-crib and set it up the first night. It worked - BUT - it was really tight to maneuver around him. The dogs didn't care, though - they would pass through the narrow space between the crib and the wall all night long. Perhaps the best part of having the crib up was that Parker was discouraged from passing through and hopping up on our bed to sleep - so he slept on the lower bunk bed. It was nice to have leg room!!

The second night we decided to test putting RYAN in the bunk house (sorry Parker). We put up railing across the bunk space and latched the netting . It worked out great. I didn't have as much leg room the second night.

Ryan enjoyed the desert. He was very inquisitive about everything. He really enjoyed being able to roam around and be free in the dirt. I think Ryan's favorite part was playing with Bailey - Steve Dodd's beagle. Ryan just followed her around everywhere!!

Dylan went on a few rides. It's kind of a bummer not being able to be out riding with him, but I'm too slow for him anyways. I try to go out and take pictures when I can.

Overall, it was a fun weekend. We're already planning our next trip during Thanksgiving!

Ryan Surgery Update 11/2

2009-11-02T19:00:00.000-08:00

It's been 10 months since Ryan's surgery at CHLA.
It's been 5 months since we figured out how to cure the diaper rash post surgery.
We've had regular office visits with Dr. Sherman since birth.

Today was yet another routine visit with Dr. Sherman - however it was a benchmark visit. Two milestones were met today:
1.) A successful rectal exam (first ever)
2.) The scar tissue has finally softened since surgery

We don't go back now for 6 months. Progress is good.

Halloween 2009

2009-10-31T22:00:00.000-07:00

Halloween was on a Saturday this year. This is significant because Jeff is usually working late for "month end close" on Halloween. This year Jeff got to be part of the Morgan Ranch festivities.

Grandma Norton bravely volunteered to pass out candy while Jeff and I took Ryan Trick-or-Treating on our street.

Ryan definitely knew that something "special" was going on. As usual, he took everything in and immersed himself in the festivities. I don't think he ever quite understood why so many weirdo's were coming up to the door.

We went through 40 bags of candy and had to shut our doors early. Next year I need to plan on at least 60 bags. Hey, maybe we'll suck it up and get the full size bars like the rest of the neighborhood.

Dylan's First Accident

2009-10-13T20:00:00.000-07:00

The phone call that no parent wants to get. "I've been in an accident"
- I actually missed the call. All 8 of them.

I was in my 3rd day of Jury Duty in Pomona. The Judge released us on a 15 minute break at 3:00. I scrolled through my emails, missed calls - and saw that I had a text message from Jeff. It read, "Dylan's been in an accident. Call me."

I didn't know WHO to call first. I called Jeff (he's in Vegas). After I got the initial information (that Dylan is okay), I called Dylan. Dylan explained to me what happened. He was going to his friend Malory's house. It was raining. He was looking at his iPod, he hit the brakes, went into a skid, and wrecked.

Basically, once Dylan hit the brakes he hydroplaned. As he steered left, the car flew right. He went up a driveway approachment - bounced off a brick pillar and landed the car on it's left side - shattering the driver and passenger side windows and breaking the rear left tire off of the car. He unbuckled himself and climbed out the passenger side of the car and called 9-1-1.

As the images of this accident replay in my mind, I am so amazed that Dylan handled this all on his own. What a traumatizing event.

Dylan is not injured. No one was with Dylan. Dylan didn't hit anyone. He was not involved in an accident with another vehicle. There is some property damage to the brick pillar and the car is totaled.

Wow, right?
So now we wait to see what State Farm has to say. In the meantime, Dylan is back in the Suburban.

Homecoming 2009

2009-10-10T23:59:00.000-07:00

Tonight was Homecoming for GHS. Most kids don't actually "go" to the dance, but they get all dressed up, go to a nice dinner and stay on the Party Bus until 12:30.

Dylan went with his friend Stephanie. There were about 20 couples who met up at Miranda Villa's house for pictures. They loaded the bus, headed to Buca Di Beppo (in Claremont) for dinner then had their fun on the bus.

Dylan came home at about 1:30. He says he had a great time.

LA County Fair 2009

2009-09-20T20:19:00.001-07:00

We took Ryan to the LA County Fair today. We walked through the exhibition buildings and we visited the animals (A fair MUST). I think Ryan was more content people watching from his stroller than he was inside the petting zoo.

Jeff and I usually come out of the exhibition buildings loaded with the latest, greatest gadget- but this year it was a blanket and a discovery toy for Ryan. (Funny how priorities change)

I did, however, get to experience the most painful 12 minute massage in my life. It started off so nice - I'm not sure why it turned into such torture. I'm still recovering from the beating I received.

The good news, is that Jeff and I now have nice shiny wedding rings thanks to a free cleaning! At least we can say that our rings were cleaned at least once this year!!

The shocking food items from the fair this year were chocolate dipped bacon and meat lovers ice cream. We had neither.

Ryan's One-Year Photos

2009-09-07T21:44:00.000-07:00

We went yesterday to have Ryan's one-year photos taken at The Picture People in Rancho Cucamonga. It was planned out perfectly. The appointment was at 3p. This allowed time for Ryan to take his nap and have his lunch before heading down. Nothing was going to derail the sitting - and the opportunity to bring home wonderful photos of Ryan!

Unlike previous sittings, Ryan wasn't "hamming" it up for the camera. Although there were a couple of good photos, most had the expression of "ehhhh, get me out of here". I couldn't blame it on not having a nap or that he was hungry. He just didn't care to be there in that environment. I was totally bummed, but I did the right thing and I requested that we be scheduled for a re-shoot.

Today our appointment was at 2p. This time we had Dylan, Grandma and Grandpa to help out with the picture taking! Today's appointment went much better - and we were able to select from enough photos to make our selection.

The Picture People has an instant gratification approach. You can pretty much walk out of there with all your prints in an hour. So while we waited to view our pictures, I took Ryan over to the fountains to let him play with the water. (He LOVES water) Once Ryan decided that he no longer wanted to stand, I figured I would just let him get wet and figure out how to get him into new clothes. After all, we were at a MALL. Lucky for us there was a Gymboree next door to the photo studio. (How convenient, yet, strategically placed adjacent to the fountains)

After we selected our photos, we feasted at Lucille's BBQ - one of our favorites!! (I hate to admit we ate there yesterday, too)

Ryan's First Birthday

2009-08-22T23:46:00.000-07:00

Ryan's first birthday was celebrated on Saturday, August 22 - at our home - amongst 51 friends and family members.

The week was a busy one because Jeff had been in Boise, Idaho for a drag race the weekend prior and I was in San Francisco for a Ford Dealer meeting on the 19th and the 20th. Being gone left little time for party execution.

We catered the party with Grilled Chicken, Potato Salad, Rice, Beans & Tortillas from Juan Pollo. Of course we added watermelon (a Ryan favorite) to the menu. And by miracle, I was able to have a cake made by Peggy with only 24 hours notice! (Peggy is who made our wedding cake - it is my absolute favorite!)

As with any 1st birthday party, I think that the party was really an adult gathering in honor of Ryan. Ryan really didn't know it was his day. He did get to eat most of his personal cake. If that doesn't make it "your day" I don't know what does!! I ended up opening all of his gifts for Ryan. He expressed particular interest in the boxes and bags!!

Thanks to all who were able to come - it was so nice to have everyone here for Ryan.
- Pete, Jennifer, Amanda & Jessica Coorey
- Andrew, Carrie, Keira & Brooklyn Tansley
- Uncle Bob & Aunt Marilyn Gogolin
- Fabi, Andrew, Tim & Cody Harris
- Keira (from daycare)
- Aunt Wendy
- Grandma Priscilla & Grandpa Mike
- Aimee & Ava Roolvink
- Jessica Stewart
- Karin Toomay & Steve Dodds (with granddaughter Cadence)
- Danny Dodds & Girlfriend Tricia
- Uncle Jim & Aunt Ann Kominski
- Cousins Meredith & Lane Levin
- Uncle Ken & Aunt Nancy
- Nana Joan
- Cousin Adam Norton
- Nanci & Lenny Ruest (& Monk)
- Uncle Jim, Aunt Dorothy, Cousins Jenny & Justin
- Dom, Michelle, Audrey, Joe, Anthony & Michael Vinci
- Uncle Dennis & Aunt Nadia
- Grandma Natalie
- Aaron & Janelle White

Double click on photo below to see all pictures from the party. (When you get to the pictures on the Picasa website - click on "slideshow")

Ryan's First Birthday Party

Ryan's 1st Haircut

2009-08-17T22:00:00.000-07:00

Aunt Wendy gave Ryan his first haircut today. Ryan handled it great! He situated himself on my lap and never cried. He would occasionally whip his head back and forth as Wendy pulled up on the hair to make the snip (as if to wonder who was pulling on him - or maybe to see something he hadn't yet seen) - but she was swift and got him all trimmed up in no time!

I miss the curls he had when his hair was longer - and somehow I think the trim made him look less like a "baby" and more like a "boy".

Double Click the photo below and it will take you to the photo album from his momentus day.

Ryan's 1st Haircut

July 20 - August 16, 2009

2009-08-16T21:10:00.000-07:00

It seems that so much has been keeping us busy - but when I actually look at a calendar, it doesn't seem like it should be too overwhelming. Why does it seem that there is NO time?!!

Jeff has had a lot of travel in the last month. I actually haven't had any at all - which has really been nice.

In the last month we had a BBQ at Scott Robertson's house, a BBQ Carnival at the Lexus Western Area, a birthday party for Joe at the Vinci's, a visit from our friend Jamey Skurtovich (from Atlanta), a birthday dinner for my cousin Jennifer, dinner at the Coorey's in beautiful Temecula, and a visit to Disneyland for Aunt Dorothy's birthday.

Dylan finished Summer School - finishing English with a C & B each semester. He's all caught up with credits now and is in a much better position for his Senior year.

Dylan made his first long-distance drive to his grandparents house in Tehachapi - 135 miles one-way. He stayed there for a week. He only got lost twice on the way out there. (I tried to get him to listen to me when I was giving driving directions) I give him credit, though, for calling for directions. He got to visit with his Dad and his half-brother while he was there. He went fishing twice - and also had a chance to golf. He also helped his Grandpa build part of his model train track.

Ryan is very vocal. He can say "ba-ba", "da-da", "Dill" (Dylan), "ice" and "don't".

He shakes his head for "no".

When you ask him how big he is - he throws up his arms into the air as we say "sooooo big".

He can give you "five".

He can throw a ball.

He can take about 5 steps - but isn't quite walking.

He can clap.

He knows his nose.

He knows his mouth - and when you ask him where his mouth is, he makes a sound like an Indian (ahhhhhhhhhh - as he pats his mouth)

He likes to look for trucks that drive up the hill into Gordon Highlands.

He asks "whats this"

He reaches up (or out) and claps his hands when he wants something.

Our visit with the Coorey's was very nice. It was the first time that we have been up to their Temecula home. It was such a great time. Their view is amazing - and it was such a relaxing visit. We really like the Cooreys! I wish I had a picture (I don't).. but Jennifer had this tunnel, made out of tent-like material, that she brought out for Ryan to try out. Ryan was like a crazy man crawling viciously in and out of the tunnel - screaming happily as he got to each end. It kept us entertained for most of the evening. His laugh was so contagious.

Dylan and I met up with Uncle Jim, Aunt Dorothy & Jenni at Disneyland on the 16th (for Aunt Dorothy's birthday). We only rode a few rides while we were there. Ryan came down with a cold or flu and was not feeling good at all....runny nose, watery eyes, high fever.... For as sick as he was, he really hung in there. Poor guy.

Anyways - I posted my favorite photos from the last month: I love the one of Ryan asleep on the piano!!
- Dylan was watching Ryan while I was getting ready for Disneyland. They were playing (er, pounding recklessly) the piano together and all the sudden it got real quiet. I came downstairs to see how it was going. I didn't see Ryan. When I asked Dylan where he was, he pointed to the piano (out of my sight). As I looked around the corner, there Ryan was - sleeping in the sitting position, slouched over onto the piano keys - mouth open.

I was fearful that he was going to try to roll over and that he would fall right off the bench - but of course had to run around the house to grab the camera first!!

The sound of the shutter woke Ryan - and I saved him from that painful looking position he was in. As he lifted his head, he revealed the piano key indentations on his left cheek. It took 40 minutes for the indents to go away.

In other random news...I found a great used toy for Ryan on Craig's List. It's a Little Tikes Swing Along Castle Climber. One side has a swing - just his size - and the other side is for climbing and sliding. There's a spinning wheel on one side of the platform and a telescope on the other. The deal finder that I am - located this little gem for only $60! So far Ryan enjoys it. He still needs a lot of supervision - but it will be a great toy for a while.

Ryan's First Time Swimming - July 5, 2009

2009-07-05T18:17:00.000-07:00

4th of July 2009

2009-07-04T13:43:00.001-07:00

We kicked off yet another 4th of July weekend by watching the La Verne Parade outside of Jeff's parent's house. While this tradition has been around the Norton family for many years, this was Ryan's first year. (Last year he was still incubating!)

There was a military helicopter fly-by, a swarm of motorcycles, fire trucks, marching bands, baseball teams, veterans, boy scouts, car clubs, city officials, forestry, police, equestrian clubs and some local businesses parading through the streets of La Verne celebrating our day of independence.

Ryan was entertained by the parade. So much so that he hung out with Grandma the whole time!

Father's Day 2009

2009-06-21T23:10:00.000-07:00

This year brought new meaning to Father's Day for Jeff. Although he truly earned the title 7 years ago for caring and providing for Dylan, this year was different.

Ryan holds Jeff's heartstrings. Jeff shows that he is amazed by Ryan every day. Whether it is a new action or a simple smile - Ryan has his Daddy wrapped around his little finger. Rightfully so. He is such an amazing little boy - who has endured so much this year. Jeff has been there for Ryan every step of the way.

Jeff also continues to be very supportive of Dylan - helping him with school work, fixing his bike or his car - or simply just providing him with guidance in "life".

Jeff is the glue to our family. He is an amazing husband and Father. We celebrated him today by going to lunch at Lucille's BBQ with Jeff's parents.

It was a great time.

CHLA Update - 6/16/09

2009-06-16T22:09:00.000-07:00

We've been on a roller-coaster with Ryan for the last 8 days.

In an attempt to heal his rash, we were suggested to administer an enema and introduce flaxseed oil to his diet. Additionally, we were instructed to begin dilations (again). Maybe too much at one time. Last Monday we were sent into a bit of panic:
- Ryan struggled all day in daycare (6/8) and had frequent stools
- His diaper rash went from zero to OH MY GOD (Personally I think it was the effects of the flaxseed oil).
- Jeff was on high alert and full panic when I arrived home which freaked me out - therefore I made a panicked phone call to Ryan's surgeon and things happened very fast.

Tuesday - Ryan's surgeon made a special trip into the office to see Ryan and I. Ryan's surgeon was recommending a temporary colostomy (6-12 mo) but wanted us to get a second opinion from another collegue at CHLA. (By the way.. this was pretty devastating news to me)

Friday - We had an appointment at CHLA for a contrast enema (X-Ray)
Being witness to the X-Ray, Jeff and I both noticed something abnormal about the path of the contrast. Immediately following the procedure, I was making phone calls to get feedback on what we saw.

Weekend - No word from CHLA. Ryan catches a cold. Had to call the pediatrician over the weekend to get medication recommendations. Turns out you can actually give a baby Robitussin. (As long as your doctor says it's okay)

Monday - Got a phone call from the nurse at CHLA. She reported to us that there was an abnormal reading on the report. Not being one who likes to be caught off guard with "news", I made phone calls to the surgeon's office for clarification. He confirmed that there was part of the intestine that appeared to be twisted on itself, but that this was NOT a concern. However, the report (in his mind) was missing the one thing he would have wanted it to say: Was there (or was there not) a narrowing? He wouldn't have access to the actual film until Tuesday.

Tuesday (today) - We were seen by "the collegue". After reviewing the X-Ray/report and doing an exam, his recommendation was NOT that of Ryan's surgeon. Instead he want's us to stay the course (less the flaxseed oil). In his opinion, everything Ryan is experiencing is "normal" post-surgery and the X-Rays showed nothing of concern.

Anyone who has ever been seen at CHLA knows that things NEVER happen this fast. Phone calls were made and favors were called in to get Ryan seen and treated in an extremely short timeframe. Because of the speed in which things were happening, I was alarmed that something "bad" was on the horizon. Today we were soothed of this fear.

I am so thankful that the right team of doctors are assigned to Ryan. (Thank you GOD for this team). Moving forward, we now know that the expectation for care is another 12 months (or more). It isn't going to be an easy road. There will continue to be days that will seem too hard to handle. I look forward to the day that we look back on all of this as a distant memory.

Love, Positive Thoughts, Prayers.

May Day! May Day!

2009-05-27T21:12:00.000-07:00

May has been quite the busy month.

Dylan turned 17. Jeff turned 39.

Jeff worked 2 races this month. I had my first root canal. Ryan had (another) ear infection. My girlfriend Billie had her baby shower. We attended Kent's going away party because he is moving to Saudi Arabia for 2 years. (You know the economy is bad when you have to find work 10,000 miles away)

Ryan is crawling all over the place. He requires a solid eye at all times. With all that consumes our day-to-day agenda, the best moments are when we have the opportunity to hold Ryan without a struggle. Even with our to-do list piling high - Jeff and I both have a hard time putting Ryan down when we can just enjoy him in such an innocent, peaceful moment.

My girlfriend Billie took this picture of Ryan and I at her baby shower. I was running an hour late. Once I arrived, I didn't have a chance to eat, socialize or participate in the games because Ryan was crying. (His ears were bothering him) There was NOTHING I could do to make Ryan happy. Then as everyone was starting to leave - Ryan finally fell asleep. So on Billie's couch we plopped. It was the first chance I had to catch my breath - yet there I sat holding him and enjoying that moment. All the frustration of the previous hour had vanished.

I'm so glad Billie took this picture. I don't ever want to forget these moments.

Has It Really Been Over A Month?

2009-05-09T13:31:00.000-07:00

Wow. Where does time go? It's been 41 days since I last did an update. With so much time in between posts I don't even know if I really remember what it is that we've been so busy with. I couldn't even tell you what I did two days ago. But with no one inquiring about where the posts are... I think I may have lost everyone! ARE YOU STILL OUT THERE???

Overall, Ryan is growing very quickly. It seemed that overnight he outgrew his infant seat. Grandma Norton bought Ryan his big boy car seat. He seems to like it. I know I do!

Ryan likes to eat finger foods. It's very difficult these days to get him to eat food from a baby food jar. He much prefers something he can eat on his own. He likes crackers, hot dogs and eggs. I haven't tried much else. Just last night he ate 2 hot dogs and a graham cracker. These days Cole and Parker keep a very close watch on Ryan. Ryan hasn't figured out the "sharing" potential yet - but that doesn't stop Parker from stealing a piece out of his hand every once in a while. ...and Parker's always kind enough to clean the mashed food off of Ryan's hands or cheeks.

Ryan still has his rash. I can't believe it is not yet gone. Just when I think we're close to curing it - - it gets so much worse. Within this last month he ruptured an ear drum. It took just hours for the antibiotic he was given to cause a bum flare-up. Poor guy can't catch a break!

Ryan is crawling all over the floor and babbling up a storm. He really likes peek-a-boo and he seems to like making screaming "ahhhh" sounds. He thinks he's funny. Now that he is getting around good (and FAST), Jeff and I need to comb the house on our hands and knees and baby proof our home. Ryan's already been caught with pieces of Parker-toy in his mouth - and just today he became a little too fascinated with one of the plug outlets in the kitchen.

Dylan finished his indoor soccer session. His team, "Revolution", took 1st place with an undefeated record. Dylan expressed interest in playing the next session. I'm not sure when that is. He seems to be more interested in playing soccer than racing these days.

Jeff has stayed busy. He finished the final touches on our kitchen and he has been spending some weekends working at some of the tracks helping with various drag races.

We recently purchased a flip cam, so moving forward there will probably be a lot more videos to share!

What Does It Take To Cure a "Nappy" Rash?

2009-03-29T21:14:00.000-07:00

It's been 61 days since Ryan's surgery. As you all know, the most difficult part of the healing process has been trying to get his diaper "rash" to heal. I'd like to go out on a limb here and say that we've tried it all!!

To start, we haven't been using baby wipes - only water. If we don't have him in the kitchen sink, then we use a hospital supplied squirt bottle. We have 100% cotton diapers that we use to dry his bottom off.

From ointments to powders to fungus medications and burn cream - to cooking staples (corn starch and olive oil) to bag balm (for Cow udders) to Maalox to Australian remedies (Jeff's long-time friend John sent us 3 different things from Australia! I was surprised that you could send diaper rash cream from one country to another) We've had so many people provide us with their miracle cures - all which have failed us.

I am happy to report that Ryan is nearly healed. It was none of the rash or fungal treatments... it was an incontinence treatment - - Ilex Paste - - that was recommended to us by a nurse at CHLA. (This stuff rules - why didn't they give it to us in the first place?!!) We've been using it almost a week now and the rash is almost all gone!

We have quite the supply - the picture only shows a sampling of what we've used... we buy everything in triplicate! We know that in the 2 years Ryan will be in diapers - - we should never have a shortage of diaper creams. (And if you ever need advice - - I'm your go-to gal!)

With all of the sink baths Ryan gets, he is surely the cleanest kid around. Lucky for him (and us) he really does enjoy his bath!

Ryan Eats...And Eats...And Eats

2009-03-26T21:04:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that just a few weeks ago we introduced Ryan to solid food. I remember thinking then how trying it was to get him to eat off of a spoon. Flash forward to today. Ryan can chow down 2-3 jars of baby food per sitting. Just this week we started giving him graham crackers (thanks "Aunt" Michelle). In 3 short days he has gone from not being able to coordinate the cracker to his mouth to being able to pick up small pieces and hand them off from one hand to the other hand to his mouth. He is even beginning to make chewing motions once the food is in his mouth.

This week Ryan was weighed at 19lbs 1 oz. He's definitely a growing baby!

I imagine now that his two top teeth are coming in, Ryan will be wanting to eat more finger foods.

Sadie's 2009

2009-03-21T23:00:00.001-07:00

I didn't quite understand the Sadie's approach. As I remember it, Sadie Hawkins was the unconventional approach where girls would ask the guys to the dance, pay for dinner, dance tickets, etc. You dress up like a bunch of Farmers (overalls, plaid shirts, etc) and you go to the school for the chaperoned dance.

Like most dances I've been witness to over Dylan's high school years. The rules have changed. Asking someone to the dance is quite the ordeal. Dylan told me this year he got asked to Sadie's and showed me a picture on his phone where "Sadies ?" was spelled out, in flower petals - I think, on someones kitchen floor. He accepted. I'm thinking, "Great!" a dance I finally don't have to pay for!

Well, then the plot thickens.

The kids aren't really going to the dance (that's lame). They're going to Knott's Berry Farm. So I argued that they weren't "really" going to Sadie's - so why go through all the the drama? Then it turns out that Dylan is paying his half, the girl is paying her half.. it all just starts to fall apart in my mind from what I ever believed Sadie's to be. Not to mention, the whole farmer theme doesn't even exist anymore. The kids just buy matching T-Shirts (which I guess is better, because who want's to buy a stupid flannel shirt and overalls anyways?)

So long story short... 3 weeks pass and TODAY was the day. 4:30p. Meet at so-in-so's house for photo's and get them all on their way. I was just meeting the kids at the designated home to take some pictures. I arrived - but Dylan was not yet there. So I called him and he let's me know that his date is "Missing in Action". The group was going over to her house (I don't know her name) and was going to see if she was there. As it turns out, his date "forgot" today was Sadie's. Oh, brother. She did eventually show up.

Originally the kids weren't ever going to make an appearance at the school, but I guess they decided that they would go for pictures before heading out to Knott's. Since the park closes at 10p, I can't even imagine that they had more than just a couple hours there. It's all kind of a mess.

Oh the drama of High School. To think that such memories are the ones that we hold on to for the rest of our lives.

Spring Forward

2009-03-07T21:17:00.000-08:00

For some reason it just donned on me that it is March. It wasn't until I got the work email reminding me to set the clocks forward tonight that I realized we are 3 months into 2009, Ryan is nearly 7 months old, we've been in our house for 2 years, Dylan is going to be 17 in 2 months.... it all just flies by so quickly. Is it me - or does time go by faster with each passing year?

Just a couple weeks ago, Ryan started sitting with a little assistance - - now he can go a long while balancing on his own. Just last week his two bottom teeth came through. (see photos... below the carrots stuck to his nose are 2 darling little teeth) He rolls over from front to back and back to front. I know it will be any day now he will figure out how to crawl - - and then we're all in trouble!

We think Ryan got Roseola. He ran a high fever (103.3) and then just a couple days later had blotches all over his skin. I didn't even know what it was until after it had passed. Ryan and I both suffered from a cold over the past couple of weeks. I think we're both almost over it.

We almost got Ryan's diaper rash cleared - - and now I swear it's worse than ever. We've tried every diaper cream (Triple Paste is my favorite so far), fungus medication, yeast medication, olive oil.. you name it. His pediatrician is now treating it like a burn. I am applying a prescription burn cream to his bottom to see if it helps. While I've been using it two days now... I think I have seen the most improvement by introducing Corn Starch. I've been on booty duty all day today making sure that he is clean and dry so that he doesn't get any worse. I know that Ryan will be the happiest when it is all clear... but selfishly, I look forward to having a little more freedom. Maybe one of these day's I'll actually get around to some chores around here. For now, not much is getting done with all of the hands-on care and attention.

Dylan joined an indoor soccer league. His first game was today. He's playing Forward on a co-ed team. He's never played soccer before but seems to be doing pretty good. I'm completely lost watching the game because I don't know what the rules are. I'm so used to him playing football, that I somewhat expect for him to take out one of the players. That's something I'm going to have to get used to: Soccer is not a full contact sport. I just hope Dylan remembers that too!
- Dylan's team won.

Back from Unintentional Hiatus

2009-02-16T23:11:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I've updated the Blog. The week at Children's was very overwhelming, we've been busy with Ryan and it's been pretty chaotic at work - so hopping right into updating the blog hasn't been at the top of my list when spare time rolls around. We've spent most of our social time on Facebook, so I'll do a quick update for those who have been wondering where the updates are - but I warn you, there isn't much to talk about these days except for poop...I guess this is what my life has become. (How boring I must be... I really need to get out)

We've been spending most of our time at home since Ryan was discharged from the hospital. Ryan's body is getting used to the new bowel situation. Until Ryan's body gets used to the new "piping" - he will have frequent stooling. Because of this, he has developed an insane diaper rash that has not gone away in a couple of weeks now. The rash been very painful for Ryan. We ONLY rinse his bottom in the sink - never with wipes - to cause as little irritation to the open, bleeding sores on his bottom. (As you can imagine, this is very limiting on our time outside the home) Ryan's doctor assures us that the rash is normal after such a procedure and the situation will continue to improve as the frequency of bowel movements slow.

There were a few days that Ryan would cry each time that he started to stool. He was in so much discomfort - that he would wake up in the middle of a dead sleep. He'd cry and kick his legs until we could get him changed. Sometimes we'd barely get his diaper back on before the next movement. We were changing his diaper up to 30+ times a day just to keep him dry. This was horrible for all of us - but mostly him. He was tired and he was not comfortable. Because of this, I bowed out of Supercross in San Diego on Valentines Day with the family. Jeff and Dylan went ahead and went to the Event - and Ryan and I stayed with the comforts of home. As a precaution, I took Ryan to the ER at Children's to make sure that he was okay. After a couple of X-Rays and an exam by the surgical team, he checked out to be just fine. His symptoms have been better since Saturday. I feel like he may be finally improving!

Now that Ryan has had his surgery, we have been able to to feed him stage 1 foods. So far we've given him rice cereal, bananas and sweet potatoes. He LOVES the sweet potatoes. In addition to the nutritional benefits and the developmental milestone, the food helps to thicken Ryan's stool - which will slow down the frequency of dirty diapers. The doctor also suggested giving Ryan Soy formula to help thicken the stool... Ryan loves it... I think it stinks!! Needless to say, I just bought 2 tubs of it at Costco.

Other events that don't involve poop - -

My company had it's second round of lay-offs in one year. I luckily survived (again). Although I have a job, I have taken on much more responsibility. In addition to working on Ford, I now work on Lincoln-Mercury - and my territory was expanded from just California and Hawaii to the "Western Region" - which picks up Seattle, Portland, Montana, Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico. It's been a learning curve getting up to speed on the Lincoln-Mercury brand and my new markets. I can't complain, though, because I am still employed in this bad economy.

Dylan got his first place trophy for Best of the West. We did not go to the banquet ceremony yesterday - but we are so very proud of his accomplishment. It's kind of sad to think that he doesn't want to race this year. He worked all of last year to ride the Best of the West series - and in addition to his #1 BOTW ranking, he got the #17 plate in his 250cc class.

We've had some uncharacteristic California weather lately. Lots of rain - and it's been very cold (c'mon, we're spoiled... we like our 80 degree weather, that's why we live here). I was actually supposed to be in Pebble Beach today - for a Ford meeting tomorrow morning. My plan was to drive up this morning and come home tomorrow night - but I woke up to news this morning that the Grapevine was closed due to snow - and the 101 (my alternate route) was flagged with flash flood warning for the entire route. After calling my co-workers, it was decided that it just was not worth my making the drive given the inclement weather. The good news with all of this cold weather and rain is that our local mountains get loaded with snow. It makes for such a gorgeous view.

Photos:
Ryan with Family on 2/8
The view of the mountains on my way home 2/13 (pretty snow, ugly holiday traffic)
Ryan and I at Children's on 2/14

Video:
Ryan babbling away in the ER - tries to eat my camera!

CHLA - Day Five (The Final Day)

2009-01-30T22:30:00.000-08:00

Besides the midnight feeding of the Pedialyte last night, I didn't do the regular wake-ups to give Ryan the Pedialyte... I was much to tired, and he wasn't complaining.

I came to realize (again) the different levels of involvement from parents. Jeff and I are both very involved and participatory. We make sure that we are constantly attending to Ryan's needs and don't rely on the nurses for all of his care. When his machines are beeping, we know how to silence them and know when to call in a nurse for assistance. The beeping machines can be quite obnoxious when you just leave them alone. (They do not stop beeping on their own).

Our new roommate last night was an infant (3 months old) with a respiratory issue going on. She had accelerated breathing - especially when she would cry. When the mother first got there, I tried to explain to her where the silence button was on the machine and that she could make the machine stop beeping - but would need to call the nurse in (She was not fluent in English, so this was somewhat difficult). I went out to get her nurse. They located her call button and I assumed this would fix the situation. It didn't. Then, the Mom went to sleep and just let her baby cry and the machines go off all night. I had to keep calling her nurses so that I could get on with my rest. As it turns out, the nurses took care of the baby all night - but most of the crying was resolved by feeding the baby.
- Where is that social worker when you need her?
I digress.

Ryan had a very good night. Despite all of the noise, he slept very well. I noticed that he was stirring more in the night - and I got a kick out of his arm hanging out the side of the crib rails in the night. At some point in the night I heard him crying when the nurse was in. I believe she was there checking his vitals but had woke him up in the process. I saw that the nurse was using her flashlight to look all over the place but didn't quite get what she was doing. I realized later (as Ryan was still crying) that she was looking for his pacifier.

During this hospital stay, Ryan has become quite reliant upon his pacifier. It has been very soothing for him and we've noticed that it has been soothing for him around the time he is going to go to sleep. The nurse was concerned that he was having gas pain and it was causing him to cry, but when I had located a pacifier (not the original one he went to sleep with...that one was found later in the morning on the floor) - he quieted as soon as I put it in his mouth and fell right back to sleep. I'm curious how his pacifier will play a role once we return home.

The surgical team made their rounds at about 7a. They said that they would be moving him to oral pain medication and IV and that Ryan could eat as much as he wanted today. If he sustained on his own, he was free to go home today. This sounds too easy, right? The rest of the day just flew by:
- The Pain Management team arrived a couple hours later. They agreed that Ryan looked great and would suspend the continuous Morphine drip.
- Ryan then got a sponge bath - and we removed all that was hooked up to him except the IV needle (just in case they needed to re-connect fluids later) and his catheter.
- Ryan steadily increased his intake of milk
- Orders then came in that he could have his catheter removed and we were told that he would be able to get discharged once he could produce a wet diaper.
- By 4p - we were told that Ryan would be discharged. All was good. He was eating good throughout the day, his body was functioning as it should, he was in little discomfort - and I'm sure that someone was waiting for his bed! ...so the discharge process began.

Thinking that Ryan had a fever, I was struggling with whether or not I should tell the surgeon on the floor about it. I figured that if I said something, we could end up staying another night or two. If I didn't say anything, and he got an infection, we'd just be back in the hospital. I couldn't be selfish. We currently had a bed in the hospital and if we came back, we'd just end up packed into their emergency room. The right thing was to address it while we were already admitted. As it turned out, Ryan was NOT running a temperature (I still think he felt too warm) - but great for us!

We happily said our goodbyes and headed to the hotel to pack up and check out. We arrived home at about 8p.

Hooray.

CHLA - Day 4

2009-01-29T23:05:00.000-08:00

After updating the Day 3 blog last night, I went straight to bed. With no set alarm, I slept until almost 9a. I sooooooo needed that sleep. Jeff held down the fort back at CHLA. Overnight, Ryan's blood count improved and the fever that he had when I left had subsided.

When I had arrived to Ryan's room today, I was so excited to see him! He was awake and looking right at me as I walked up to his crib. I had been immediately introduced to a social worker who had just arrived. Her first question: "Was Ryan born vaginal or c-section?" Taken aback... I had to ask her what she could possibly gain by having that information. I was very irritated. Was this more important than a visit with my child? Hoping that the remaining questions were to be quick and RELEVANT... her next was inquiring about who the child lived with and the next was whether or not friends and family members knew we were here at CHLA. After letting her know that just about everyone we knew was aware - I, sarcastically let her know that I had a family blog and could provide her with the website if she so needed. At that point, I think she realized she wasn't going to get much further and then left the room.

Jeff says, "Boy, she caught you at a bad time".

Here's the deal. The social worker had no foundation to have any conversation with me or Jeff. I wasn't going to go down the road of the questions like "what is the highest level of education you have" and "are there other children in the household" or "do you work full time". We have answered these questions in the past and they never do anything with the answers they get from us. They are simply irrelevant. If she would exhaust her energy in finding out when the Surgical team will be making their next rounds - or better yet - when Ryan can eat - she will get a better response from me. Rest assured if there is someone in this hospital who would like to assume that we are not good parents- bring 'em on! They will not win against this Mother Bear.

We had a few visitors today. Pat came by to visit on his way home from a dealer visit. Although he didn't stay long, it sure was nice that he stopped by. My Aunts and Uncles (and Jenni) all came by this evening as well. They got to spend some time with Ryan and we got to have some conversation outside the medical world!

Ryan is becoming more and more alert and he is feeling better with each day. I actually got to hold him today for a little while. I could tell that he was uncomfortable in my arms. I will begin holding him more frequently in the next couple of days as his pain subsides. Ryan also passed some stool today. This is great news because it means he is starting to function again and with this he can begin to take in fluids besides the IV he has been getting. (Remember, he last had fluids on Monday)

Tonight, Ryan gets to start drinking small amounts of Pedialyte. With increased dosages we will watch to see that he is not having any difficulty with intake and will hopefully get to give him milk soon. I'm sure these will be our milestones tomorrow.

CHLA - Day Three

2009-01-29T01:16:00.000-08:00

What a long 24 hours.

So.

I stayed my turn in the hospital with Ryan last night (Jeff stayed the night before). I was prepared and brought my pajamas with me so that I could get comfortable in the lousy convertible chair that was in the room. We keep a pillow and blanket in the room for whoever stays each night.

Ryan is in the room with 3 other patients. Ryan slept pretty solid through the night but would wake up in brief moments moaning in discomfort. I was awake for each of those moans but also because one of his alarms was going off, or one of the roommates alarms was going off. Then one patient would make a sound that would trigger noises from one of the other patients in the room. Nurses came in, came out - cleaning crews came in, came out. Holy Moly. One of the poor boys diagonal from where Ryan was had hallucinations in the middle of the night and though he was bleeding to death. He woke up screaming to his dad about "all the blood" - and the Dad, coming out of a dead sleep, didn't quite get what was going on at first... so that was pretty interesting. While I had complete passion for the kids in the room - I was still quite irritated with the level of noise and chaos.

Jeff arrived about 9:30a. Ryan still hadn't been awake since he came out of surgery. There were a couple times earlier this morning that Ryan had opened his eyes - but he wasn't looking "at" me - - he was looking "through" me... so I knew he was still pretty groggy. It wasn't until later in the afternoon when he started to become more alert. He would stay awake for longer periods of time but then just fade back into sleepiness.

We requested a room change and were able to be put into a smaller room but one that only had one other patient. It was nice because the room stayed vacant until about 5:30p. Jeff, Ryan and I had a lot of peace and quiet. We needed that.

Ryan hasn't fussed much at all today. He's pretty comfortable and content. It's been 48 hours since he's had any liquid, 72 since he's had formula - and he's holding out pretty good. He has been playing with some of his toys and allowed me to read a few books to him. He's really quiet. He looks at us, but still won't express any emotion unless he's in pain or agitated.

The morphine has been making his face itchy. He's got some scratches and redness on his face. He gets a dose of Benadryl in his IV every 4 hours to help out with that side affect.

He started running a fever tonight - which is normal after surgery. They collected blood from him and found that he is slightly anemic - which could be a sign of internal bleeding - or just from the medications he's been given through IV. He also had a pinch in his catheter which caused some swelling - so who knows if maybe that wasn't causing the issue. With no blood coming from the rectum or showing up in the urine, it's probably not any internal bleeding (stay positive). They will draw blood from him in the morning to make sure that his blood count hasn't dropped - and we'll go from there.

I'm pooped. I'll be getting my good nights rest in the quiet hotel room tonight and then will head back over in the morning.

CHLA - Day Two - Part Deux

2009-01-27T23:59:00.000-08:00

(Continued from Below)

While I did some work, Jeff was able to get in a power nap and a quick shower. We walked over to Hollywood/Highland center for a quick CPK lunch then we took the train back to the hospital. We checked in with the surgery department around 1p. Ryan was not yet out of surgery. We waited in Ryan's room and got the call to come back down around 2p.

When we arrived, they took us into a consult room where we waited for Dr. Sherman. When he came in, he sat down with a smile on his face and said the surgery went well. All in all, it was about a 4 hour procedure.

Ryan had a blockage in his bowel that was somewhere between the size of an orange and grapefruit (WAY bigger then a 5-month old's bowel should be). While not unexpected, the doctor said that he had to decide whether to remove 6 inches of bowel or give Ryan a temporary colostomy. By removing the 6 inches, the surgeon felt he could achieve a 95% clean procedure. He let us know that the 6 inches was not critical to the function of the large intestine. So basically, they went in through the abdomen, located the obstruction, removed the portion of the colon that was affected by blockage and/or stenosis and attached back to healthy intestine.

The thing he was not able to address were the cysts that showed in the MRI. He did locate one, but felt that trying to remove the cyst created a greater risk than leaving it in. I don't remember all of the verbiage... something about risking muscular function.... Anyways - his recommendation was to re-visit in the next year. He did confirm, though, that the cyst was not attached to the sacrum.

The doctor said that Ryan can start eating once as he starts to pass gas and stool....which we found could take a couple of days. We were then taken back to see Ryan. He never woke up for us. After he was stable, he was wheeled back to his room. I think we got up there about 4:00.

Jeff and I waited for Ryan to come to. With a couple hours since passed, we decided to seize an opportunity to run out to get a quick bite to eat at a little Mexican food joint down the street (Los Burritos - It's awesome!). When we got back, Ryan still had not woken up.

Jeff and i just wanted to see our little guy wake up, focus on us and give us his trademark heart-melting smile. Instead, he would wake up, fuss a bit, then go back to sleep. He did wake up one time very agitated. We all guessed he had some pain (how do you know exactly on a 5-month old?). The nurse provided a booster to the continuous drip of morphine he was already receiving - and that seemed to relax him.

Jeff waited until the last possible moment to leave the hospital. He caught the 11:11 train back to the hotel and was able to get this blog drafted (I've since gone in and made some edits... I get particular about my blog!!)

CHLA - Day Two

2009-01-27T11:15:00.000-08:00

I got in a few hours of sleep last night and headed over to the hospital at 7a to see how the boys were holding up. I got to Ryan's room just in time for the nurses rounds. Jeff gave me the update from the night:
- Ryan had a complete meltdown after Jeff and I left last night. He was "unconsulable". This is when he pulled the NG out of his nose.
- Regular enemas were given to Ryan throughout the night - but Ryan was a trouper and slept well for most of the night. Dad, on the other hand, slept poorly and is completely wiped out today.

After I arrived, Ryan was able to get the NG permanently removed from his nose. I spent time with him reading, playing with toys and walking him around while Jeff got in about an hour of sleep. Right when I laid Ryan down to sleep, the crew came to bring Ryan down to surgery - 10a.

We had the Chaplain in the room to pray for Ryan. - and then we went down to the surgical floor. I carried Ryan down instead of putting him on the gurney. It wasn't long before they took him back. Ryan, in typical form, was happy, smiling and being flirty. We kissed him goodbye in the hallway and off he went.

Jeff and I came back to the hotel room for some rest. (He's snoring while I type this). We'll head back in about an hour or so to check up on him.

CHLA - Day One

2009-01-26T22:37:00.000-08:00

Jeff, Ryan and I checked into our hotel at about 10:30 last night. This was Ryan's second time away from home (the first was in our Motor Home). Ryan did really well. We ALL did very well. We were able to keep Ryan up later than his usual 9p bedtime and get a good last feeding into him.

As of this morning we switched to a clear liquid diet. We've been unsuccessful with Pedialyte feedings in the past, so we came well stocked with Grape, Bubble Gum, Apple and Unflavored varieties. The Unflavored did not go over so well, so we tried the Grape. It was new to Ryan, but he seemed to take a little interest in it - so we stuck with it.

We drove over to Children's and got Ryan admitted. Like the last time we went through this, there was no available bed so - we ventured out into Hollywood to kill time. (We learned our lesson last time and came prepared to explore OUTSIDE the hospital during the long wait.)

First we had had breakfast at a local Denny's restaurant. Then we decided that we would head over to a local Toyota dealership. Jeff and I have long deciding my next vehicle since my Lexus lease is ending soon. We have been holding off on placing my new vehicle order because we really needed to get "in" to the two different trim levels - but we just haven't had the time to do this. Jeff called up the General Manager (Don ...who will never forgive Jeff for a rough hit during a football game in DC. He brings that story up every time we see him...and the tale keeps getting bigger/better every time I hear it). We were given the full tour of my prospective car. It was really nice to have access to the cars side-by-side without the hard-sell. Car seat in, car seat out, seats back, seats forward. In the end, however, I am decided and look forward to my next car "the Ryanmobile".

After a nice visit with Don, we headed over to Hollywood and Highland and walked around for a couple hours. Ryan didn't need a car seat to sit in his stroller. He was sitting up like a big boy!! He really enjoyed taking in all of the sights - and particularly loved the water fountain. I think all of the action really took his mind off the fact that he wasn't eating anything.

We realized that we did not bring a camera with us this week (we only have FIVE at home). We headed over to a near-by Best Buy to pick one up - and while doing so - got the phone call from Children's that a bed was ready. It had been 5 hours.

We kept Ryan entertained for a couple hours in the center - - and by this time he was drinking the Grape Pedialyte willingly, soaking a bib with every feeding (we usually use only 2 bibs a day - I hope we brought enough bibs!). We set his crib up with the comforts of home - hanging his mobile, giving him his familiar toys and keeping him comfy with his blankets. By 7p, he had been set up with his IV, his NG and began his bowel prep.

Ryan fell asleep around 9:30p. Since this was the time I knew Ryan would most likely stay asleep for the remainder of the night, Jeff and I contemplated about who would be staying overnight (Jeff) and we made plans to get me back to the hotel. Jeff and I took the Red Line from the hospital back to our hotel (my first trip on a subway train in LA). It's much cheaper to keep the car at the hospital for overnight parking than to pay the valet at the Marriott. The subway fare is only $1.25 each way. After I was settled in the hotel, Jeff headed back to the hospital to be with Ryan for the night.

As I type this, I've already been getting updates. Ryan pulled the NG out of his nose...and they moved us into another room. I know that there will be much more going on, but I will need to save that update for tomorrow or I'll never get some rest.

Ryan is scheduled for surgery at 7:30a tomorrow. On one hand I am so scared to put him through this procedure. I hope that there are no complications (short or long term) that this angel of a child will have to endure. On the other hand, I am looking forward to having him truly healthy and being able to just enjoy him! Every day for the past 5 months we have been worried about Ryan. Somehow we've kept it all balanced with everything else in our lives.

Tomorrow is the first step towards allowing Ryan to enjoy being the wonderful baby that he is.
Thanks to everyone who has prayed for Ryan. Please keep him in your prayers.

Sorry... no pictures. I'll probably have to post them after we get home.

Moving Forward

2009-01-13T22:16:00.000-08:00

With Ryan scheduled to have surgery this week, my Nana was here to help hold down the fort since we were going to be gone all week. Since Ryan's surgery is going to be rescheduled and Jeff and I will be returning to work, Nana will head home.

I'm glad that she got to spend a couple days here with Ryan. She doesn't get to see him very often - only when she signs on the blog for updated photos and stories.

We had the chance to get Ryan into the Pediatrician today. He was given antibiotics, Albuterol (to open the lungs) and Prednisolone (for inflamation). We'll be following up next week to make sure Ryan is again rid of his bronchial issues.

We'll be getting in touch with the surgeon tomorrow about rescheduling the surgery.

Ryan ALMOST Has Surgery

2009-01-12T21:50:00.001-08:00

It's been a totally crazy week. After we found out last Tuesday that Ryan did indeed have Rectal Stenosis, Jeff and I spent the remainder of the week finalizing work projects and scheduling surgery at Children's Hospital.

Over the weekend, Ryan started getting a cold. We tried so hard to keep him healthy. We called his surgeon Sunday night to let him know that Ryan had come down with some sort of cold but were given the go-ahead to head to Children's for evaluation. If Ryan was evaluated and deemed in good health, we would be moving forward as planned.

Ryan was scheduled to be admitted today. We were told to arrive by 8a because we would need to wait for an available bed at the hospital. Once we had a bed, then Ryan would need to go through a bowel prep prior to his surgery on Tuesday morning.

Jeff and I arrived at 8a. We waited 5 hours before we were called about a bed becoming available. We hung out in the lobby until lunch and then decided to go on a walk. Of course during this time is when the hospital was looking for us!

After we got Ryan's room assignment (great view, by the way, of Griffith Observatory and the Hollywood sign) the nurses and Anesthesiologist came in and gave him an evaluation. Hearing the wheezing in his chest, they got him set up for routine blood work, but also ordered a chest x-ray. It was decided that Ryan would NOT be cleared for surgery tomorrow and we began his discharge.

Because we had hotel reservations for the week, Jeff made quick cancellations. This is when we found out that his friend Pat (and Kaylyn) were trying to surprise us with a personally-delivered gift basket to our hotel room. (Of course we hadn't yet checked in) When they were going to make arrangements to have the gift dropped of at the hospital, we let them know that we were in the process of checking out. Pat and Kaylyn met us in the lobby when we were on our way out. It was nice to see friendly faces after such a long exhausting day.

We all decided to have dinner together before heading back home (Pat lives near us in La Verne and it was rush hour)

Tomorrow we will get Ryan treated by his pediatrician to knock down what ever illness he is fighting and then we will circle back with his surgeon to get re-scheduled for surgery.

I'm so tired as I write this blog.. I hope I captured everything.
All in all, Ryan was so good today. Despite the fact that he was on a clear liquid diet (no milk!) that he rejected - he only drank about 2 oz of Pedialyte all day - he was in great spirits and slept frequently throughout the day. He fussed terribly with the IV (to be expected) and with the x-ray - but the kid HATES to be restrained! As usual, he flirted with all of the nurses and stole their hearts.

Although I am not pleased with the admitting process, I am thankful that the nurses had the foresight to have him determined healthy for surgery prior to putting him through the bowel prep.

Jeff and I are bummed to have to prepare ourselves to go through this again in the future - but we know that it's best for Ryan to be as healthy as he can be with such a major surgery. I think this overall process may be harder on the two of us than it is on Ryan!!

Ryan talking (but I like to think he's "fussing" the hospital for making us wait so long!!)

I'm Getting So Big!

2009-01-06T22:55:00.001-08:00

Ryan in his new highchair!

2009 ... A New Year

2009-01-04T23:14:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been a while since I've been on the blog to post any updates. We've actually stayed pretty busy.

Our newest guilty pleasure has been Facebook. We spend a lot of time on that social site. Jeff and I can get pretty wrapped up in a competitive game of Pathwords, Scramble or Sodoku. (It's amazing how fast Ryan's nap time ends once we get focused playing a game).

Jeff and I both had the time between Christmas and New Years off. Sitting here tonight, I can't believe that we have to go back to work tomorrow. It just seems like the time went by so fast. We stayed very busy during the break.

Ryan had and MRI on the 23rd. When we heard back from his doctor on the 30th, we learned that the results were not what the doctor was looking for and we re-did Ryan's MRI on the 31st.

It was heartbreaking to know that we had to have Ryan sedated again for the procedure. I know, however, that having the right diagnosis is very important - so it's best to make sure that the MRI is done properly. We should know the results on the 6th. I'm crossing my fingers that we will get some positive news.

During 5 days of the break, our kitchen floors and backslpash FINALLY got done. While we were decided on the floor, getting to a final decision on the backsplash was a nightmare. I was bringing home tile the DAY OF installation. We decided on travertine tiles with a oil-rubbed bronze insert. (Sounds so simple, doesn't it?) It really came out gorgeous (I'll post photos in a later blog). It's hard to believe it was so difficult to get to a seemingly simple layout. I have determined that design is not in my make up. After about 8 round trips to the tile store - if I never have to go to Anaheim again, that is just fine with me! I thank God that our neighbor (who owns the tile/granite store) was so lenient. We had a lot of luxuries that most consumers would never have been allowed - bringing home travertine layouts, marble flooring, sample tile boards, etc. - then returning them when we decided it was not the right stone. Anyone else would have had to live with their purchase decision. In the end, though, everything came out as I could have hoped. With exception to a few wrap-up tasks, the kitchen is complete.

During one of my trips down to Anaheim, I was able to surprise my Nana and Papa with a visit. I was only miles away from their house - - and I knew that Nana wanted to see "Sam" *(aka Ryan) so badly. I'm glad that it worked out and they were both home!

Jeff spent a lot of time over the break getting our rental property ready for the new tenants. After sitting for nearly 3 months, we are happy to have renters in our La Verne house. It's a little stressful having to carry two mortgages!

Dylan spent some time with his Grandparents (Dad, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins) in Tehachapi over the break. Although it did not snow when he was there, there was plenty of snow for the family to play in while they were there to visit. Dennis and Linda (his Grandpa and Grandma) brought Dylan home and we had some time to visit with them. We don't get to see them as often as we would like, so it was nice to spend some time with them. Dylan had a good time and enjoyed seeing family.

I had the usual fortune of getting sick over the break. I had a cold/flu that wiped me out for about 5 days of the break. I guess I'm glad that I got it over with, but I am baffled that I always get sick when I have time off!! Unfortunately I was sick on New Years Eve. Our neighbors invited us over for their annual bash - and I didn't stay more than an hour before I had to get out of there and into bed!! I was looking forward to having a great Mediterranean meal and a few drinks. I had neither. Jeff was able to stay, though. He had a couple drinks and smoked a cigar while other party-goers started smoking the hooka. He was home just after midnight. (The party ended sometime after 4a)

Jeff and Dylan went to Supercross last night. Together they will attend all 3 Anaheim shows and the show in San Diego. I'm undecided on attending San Diego. I guess (at minimum) I can go up in the Motorhome to San Diego and just not go into stadium with Ryan for the races. We'll see. Funny how decisions change once there is a baby in the mix! Suddenly sitting out in the cold to watch a motorcycle race is no longer appealing.

In just the past 2 days, Ryan has become very vocal. He lets out long sounds all day long. I try to get him to say "Mama" every day! Quite honestly, I think there is a better chance he'll say "Parker" first. (He is so intrigued with that dog!) Ryan has been staying awake longer during the day - leaving even less time for me to get anything done. He continues, though, to be such a good baby. He's so lovable. He has a gleam in his eye when he smiles that just brings out a sparkle. It's to die for! Jeff and I just melt. In other Ryan news... he's up to 17 pounds. He's doubled his birth weight. I'm getting some pretty strong arms toting that kid around!

Okay. Post complete. Jeff and I both have to be up in a few hours - - and I know he's been waiting to read what I post! The good news is that Jeff doesn't have to take Dylan to school at 6:30a... tomorrow will be Dylan's first day driving himself to school! (The bad news is that having to get Dylan to school on time was Jeff's motivation to leaving the house on time!)

The Norton's 2008 Christmas Photo

2008-12-26T20:38:00.000-08:00

I am pretty excited. We actually got Christmas cards out on December 26th this year. We usually have them ready and never send them -- or just don't ever get around to sending them at all. Now that people are already starting to receive them at home, I went ahead and just posted the photo on the blog.

Merry Christmas to our friends and family!

Merrrrrrrrrry Christmasssssss

2008-12-25T21:57:00.001-08:00

Baby's First Christmas.
Not a care in the world. He has no idea what's even going on. He's not even old enough to be interested in the wrapping paper! Ryan was just fine being entertained by his Aunt Wendy right on top of the dining room table.

We gathered at Jeff's parents house this morning for breakfast. I will have to say that it was probably one of the more "tame" events. (It can get pretty ugly over a meal at the Norton's house). We hung around for a little while after Wendy and Shelley left. Then came back and exchanged gifts with Dylan.

Since Dylan can drive now, we got him gift cards for the local fast food establishments: Chipotle, Starbucks, McDonalds, Jack in the Box, Golden Spoon, Del Taco and In N Out. He should be set for a while. We reminded him that this was not to take the place of his lunch money, however, to be a resource for the nights that he wants to go "hang out". He was pretty excited.

Jeff and I did not exchange gifts this year. He and I are both very hard to shop for - and we typically just buy what we really want, anyways. It's almost been a blessing to be in a recession. I feel that for the first time in many years, Christmas was actually about "family" and focused on gifting to only the kids in the family.

There will be so much that will challenge us in the upcoming year. I just want to always remember this time.

Ho Ho Ho - - Merry Christmas

Christmas Eve 2008

2008-12-24T23:34:00.000-08:00

Since we would be spending Christmas with Jeff's parents, we gathered tonight with my Aunt Dorothy, Uncle Jim & Cousins Jenni and Justin. We would not be joining them in Malibu with the rest of the family over the next couple of days, so it was the only time we could get together.

Given the tough economic conditions, we decided it best to focus on gifting only to the kids this Christmas. (i like that idea!) Ryan got his highchair and a cute ladybug book. Dylan got some clothing and a "mystery" gift. (Aunt Nadia forgot to put it in his gift bag for him) I guess he'll have to wait to see what it is next time we see them!

As usual, we had a great time with them. After dinner we played a couple games: A dice game called Left, Right, Center and a card game called Apples to Apples. Both were games that we had never played before so it was a lot of fun.

We didn't get home until after 11p. We're pooped!

Ryan's MRI - Children's Hospital LA

2008-12-23T18:00:00.000-08:00

Today was Ryan's MRI appointment at Children's Hospital.

He was scheduled for a 9:30 MRI. He was allowed to have milk until midnight and Pedialyte until 7a. We fed him as much as he would take before he went to bed. Jeff and I contemplated whether or not we should wake him up at midnight to feed him. Since we had to wake up at 5:30a, I thought it would be best to chance it in the event he would sleep through the night and not disrupt his (and my) sleep.

Ryan woke up at 2:30a and took quickly to the Pedialyte - until he and I both figured out that there was a slow nipple on the bottle. Although I went downstairs to get the faster flow nipple, it was too late. His frustration already set in. He spent the next 35 minutes crying. He was so mad that he scratched his cheek and then tried to scratch me, too! I walked him back and forth the upstairs hallway until he started to doze. I felt like the walking dead. I couldn't have been any more tired.

Lucky for us, Ryan isn't much of a morning eater - so not feeding him right away wasn't a big deal.

We were just leaving the house at 7a and stopped at Starbucks for my much needed coffee before we headed up to LA. While I got the coffee, Jeff tried to give Ryan his last chance at Pedialyte. Ryan didn't take too much.

We arrived at Children's hospital with plenty of time to spare. Lucky for us, there was not much traffic because of the holiday season. Children's Hospital is a beautiful facility. It really offers a great kid environment for those who will be treated there. I will say, though, that Jeff and I are sadly reminded that Ryan's condition is a blessing compared to the other children visiting the hospital.

After about an hour of checking in, Ryan was called back to the "holding area". This is where they took his vitals, introduced us to his Anesthesiologist and where we put him into his hospital gown. We were also notified that just one of us would be allowed to go in with him for a few minutes into the MRI. Jeff graciously allowed me to be "the one".

We then went into the Radiology room where Ryan would be given his IV for the anesthesia. Up until this point, Ryan was happy and smiling and just full of his typical personality. That was until the nurses tried viciously to find a vein on Ryan. His poor chunky arms and legs made it difficult for them to find a vein. Ryan screamed irritably as the tourniquet was put on each arm and each leg - multiple times. He was red in the face and whimpering as they finally found a vein at the top of his hand that they would go after. Although only one prick, it took a few maneuvers once in the skin to penetrate the vein. They got it! Poor guy.

The time came where I walked him into the procedure room. The Anesthesiologist gave him his sedative while I held Ryan in my arms. Within a few short seconds, Ryan went completely limp. It's a good thing that I could still hear him breathe. I had an awful vision of his body being lifeless. I didn't like that at all. I held him for just a short while. He was still whimpering from all the crying - even in his sleep. I laid him down on the MRI table and gave him a kiss on his forehead before I had to go.

Jeff and I waited about an hour-and-a-half before we were allowed to come see him in recovery. Ryan did very well. We were told that he woke right up after coming out of the anesthesia and he was even smiling at the nurses before we got in. We were able to immediately give him some Pedialyte and within the hour after that were able to give him some milk. We spent the rest of the day hanging out with him. We were notified that he would spend a lot of the day sleeping off the anesthesia. I don't think he slept any more than a regular day - but I did think he was a little more "needy" than usual.

Ryan's doctor is on vacation until the 29th. We will not know any results until at least that day. I would figure we will have news by the end of next week for sure.

We pray for positive results. Until then...

It was a BIG day!

2008-12-17T22:50:00.000-08:00

Ryan Laughed & Dylan got his drivers license

Drivers Beware!
Dylan passed his driving test today and is now licensed to drive. Dylan performed his test in the pouring rain out in Rancho Cucamonga (we were told the testing was "easier" out there). He only got 3 points marked against him (15 were allowed in order to pass). Each point was for not allowing enough space (1.5 car lengths) at stops. He's very excited and very eager to drive to/from school. He is not allowed to drive after 11p and is not allowed to have another passenger in the car under the age of 25 until he is 18. (Hmmmmmm, how is it that he's been going to lunch for the past couple of years?)

Ha Ha Ha Ha
I had just got home from my hair appointment. I was holding Ryan while trying to eat some pizza. I had Ryan on my leg - his back to my chest - and he was watching Parker. Parker was sitting (lazy, of course) with his tongue hanging out (hoping for some pizza). I think maybe Ryan thought Parker looked funny - and started laughing. It was great! He laughed out loud a few times and then it was all over. I can't wait to hear him laugh again. :)

Next Week is Christmas??

2008-12-15T22:12:00.001-08:00

Holy S**** - Next week is Christmas? How did that happen?

Life with a baby is busy. Especially when he is not feeling well.

Just over a week ago, we took Ryan in for a cough and he had bronchial asthma - most likely from the dust created from the kitchen construction. He was put on antibiotics and asthma medicine - we were told to keep him out of the environment (which we already were as much as possible) and that he was to be seen again in one week for follow up.

Last Friday we took him back in and all was great again. He got his 3rd round of immunizations - which caused some fussiness through Saturday. At some point Saturday everything changed. Ryan was not pooping - and more importantly, Ryan stopped eating. He was really crying - I mean REALLY crying. I felt so bad for him.

When the sitter told me today that he only took one bottle, hadn't pooped and had been unhappy all day - I knew I had to take him to his pediatric surgeon ASAP.

Coming from Santa Monica at 2:45p - on a rainy day - I knew I had a challenging commute ahead of me to be in West Covina by 5p. I called Jeff and wasn't able to get ahold of him until I was to downtown LA. Jeff left work at about 3:30 and we agreed we would keep each other posted on our commute progress. Who ever could get to Ryan first would pick him up and the other would meet up at the doctor's office. With the rain causing havok all over the 10, 60 and 605 freeways (my only freeway opportunities home) - I took sidestreets. I don't know how I did it, but I made it from work to Ryan's daycare in 1 hr 20 minutes (and I made a bathroom stop). Jeff only beat me to the Dr's office by about 10 minutes.

Ryan's little belly was so swollen from not having a bowel movement. The doctor simply dilated him to help relieve some of the pressure. Luckily this was enough to relieve the discomfort Ryan was feeling. I was a little surprised that there was nothing more to be done. We were already dilating at home. I guess it's better to let the doctor step up the dilation than assume we can do it on our own.

Ryan's MRI is next week. We'll know what his diagnosis really is - and how to treat him for good. It will be nice to relieve ourselves from "poop watch".

At home, the kitchen is still not finished. Because Ryan was not feeling so well, I didn't go out much over the weekend. I think, though, that we have decided on the tile we are going to use. But at this point I have just stopped caring about the floor. I just want to be done with the kitchen. It's been too long!

Meanwhile, I have given up on any hope to get our Christmas lights up or our Christmas decorations put out. With only 10 days to go... why bother. It's only more mess to deal with. BUT.... we did take our Christmas photo tonight - and I'm hopeful that Christmas cards may actually go out this year (we haven't sent out cards in 3 years).

Ahhh... the holidays.

Ryan is growing up so fast. He's already wearing 6 mo clothes. He's loving his activity center. He is trying so hard to hold things in his hands. I keep waiting (any day now) for him to laugh out loud. It's hard to believe how fast time has passed. I know someday I'll look back and wonder where time went - like I do with Dylan. I'm glad to have this blog to keep track of the memories.

Cooking 101

2008-12-09T23:00:00.000-08:00

Well, the kitchen is 99% in - so I've been eager to use it this week. Last night I made my yummy tacos and tonight I kept it simple: Roast a chicken and bake some sliced potatoes. About 30 minutes into the cook time for the chicken, I noticed that the house was a little smokey - realizing that it was a little too close to the oven burners, I pulled the chicken out - set it down by the sink - added some water to the bottom of the pan and put it back in the oven.

Dylan was famished, so he was hovering by the oven asking, "Is it ready yet" and "when will it be done". While I fed Ryan, I had Dylan check to see if the oven was still smokey. It was - a little. A few minutes later I came to check on the chicken. I opened the oven and noticed the smoke - - then I noticed the white melted, sizzling goo all over the oven rack. It took me about 5 seconds - - and then it hit me.

THE CUTTING BOARD!

Apparently when I set the roasting pan on the counter - I set it on the acrylic cutting board. It went unnoticed as it stuck to the bottom of the pan. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? As I calmly cussed every word in the book, I tried to figure out how to get this mess out of the oven. Simultaneously I'm trying to figure out if the chicken is edible at this point.
It's only been in there 10 minutes - how bad can it really be?

I took the pan out and held it out for Dylan to take. He stood there with his hands up in defense and reminded me that he couldn't just take the pan - - he had bare hands. Oh, yeah. Good point! So I put the pan down, and grabbed a spatula to scrape the acrylic off the bottom of the oven. I got out what I could.

By this time, the smell of the acrylic was overcoming the kitchen. Think Melissa, Think. Okay. Put the chicken in the bottom oven with the potatoes until it's finished cooking. I pulled the potatoes out, popped in the chicken and continued to manage the melting issues going on.
(Set top oven to "clean" and incinerate the acrylic off the bottom of the oven... ya... that sounds like a good idea)

Mmmm potatoes - let's try a bite.... the chicken is going to be a little while longer.
- - Too salty! Yikes... the excessive season salt just about sucked all the moisture out of my mouth. Toxic chicken and a salt lick. Arrrrrrgh!
Hell, do I just suck it up and make the Taco Bell run now? No - that makes too much sense.

Not being able to get the chicken to cook properly at this point, I figured my only way out of this mess that I am now fully committed to was for me to cut it up and pan cook it - piece by piece.

What a disaster.

The worst part was that it took me twice as long to clean up the mess that I made trying to cook my "simple" dinner. So fully exhausted from a marathon cleaning session - I figured this was definitely a tale for the good ol' blog!

The oven is still self cleaning. Hopefully there will be no evidence left in the morning. We'll have to figure out a way to safely melt the remaining piece of cutting board off my oven rack!

....and then I remember the important things....

Another Boring Kitchen Update

2008-12-07T21:50:00.001-08:00

I know... you thought you'd sign in to see if there were new pictures of Ryan.

SORRY.

Instead, you get to see the seemingly little progress that has been made in the kitchen. Since I am still undecided in backsplash and floor tile, we made a lot of progress in getting things in our home back in order.

Jeff hauled all of the construction trash to the dump, we washed all of the dishes that have been out in our entry way and put them away in their new cabinet space. The twelve layers of dust were all wiped off the living furniture. The countertop trinkets were all wiped down and put into place. Slowly our kitchen is evolving and taking shape.

I made a trip on both Saturday and Sunday to the tile store in Anaheim with hopes to make a final decision. I think I have decided on a tumbled travertine tile for the backsplash, but I am not decided on flooring. Hopefully I can decide on something this week

Then we'll move on to wiping the 12 layers of dust from every wall in the house!! I'm glad that this was the biggest contruction project that this house will probably ever see! I can't imagine having to go through this mess again.

I will say, though, that I am very happy that we decided to put in the instant-hot system. It has been great for Ryan's bottles. It's a nice little luxury.

Jeff already has many projects lined up to take the place of our kitchen work. Will we ever get a break?

We're sooooooo close. It kind of reminds me of those final days before Ryan was born. You knew the end was near... but it couldn't have come any slower!
- Tile
- Finish Island (custom pieces and drawer fronts
- Get glass for corner cabinets
- Install lighting above desk and in cabinets
- Install can light in pantry area
- Touch up paint the ceiling
- Re-paint kitchen

Granite is Installed

2008-12-01T21:54:00.000-08:00

Our granite counter tops went in today. The granite looks great! The Ogee edges really add elegance to the kitchen.

It's amazing, though, that colors can change. The cast iron sink - which I believed to be a perfect color match to the cabinets - looks "pink" under the granite. How does this happen?!!! I'm a little freaked out about it - - and I hope that the fix is as easy as changing the light above the sink and perhaps even the wall color. The sink is permanently set - there's no going back.

I am thinking twice now about the flooring. I'm afraid that it is not the right color to go with the granite we selected. I'd rather return every box we have BEFORE installation than to hate it all once it's in. I know for sure that the backsplash I wanted will not work... it's the same color as the sink - - and I don't want a "pink" (biscuit) backsplash!

Ugh, why does this have to be so hard?!! Does anyone know an interior designer that can help me through this color mess?? (For free, of course)

2008-11-30T12:56:00.000-08:00

Kitchen Remodel Progress- 11/29

2008-11-29T21:38:00.001-08:00

Before/After
What was once 80's European is now becoming French Country. Long gone are the white tiles, white cabinetry, white hardware, white Corian and white island tiles. Flooring and granite will be installed next week... but we love what we are seeing so far!!

It's almost Thanksgiving??

2008-11-22T12:04:00.000-08:00

Where has the time gone? I can't believe that next week is already Thanksgiving. It seems like yesterday that Jeff & I were running back and forth from the hospital with Ryan. It's already been 3 months.

I've been extremely busy with work. I've been making "day trips" out of San Diego and San Francisco travel. I'm glad to be home at night with Ryan, but it is very exhausting to get up at 3:30a to be in both cities on time. I have two more trips to San Francisco - one on Monday and one the first week of December. The December trip will be my first night away from Ryan. OMG! (I try not to think about it!)

This time last week we were so consumed by the news of the fire - and this week we have already forgotten and moved on. It seems like the fires happened so long ago!

Jeff & I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary last week. We've been together for 6 years. It has really been an amazing 6 years.

Mario and Jeff are back to work on the kitchen today. It's coming along nicely. The end is in sight - and I look forward to the day I can put the mess back behind the doors!!! This process seems to be dragging on forever. Mario is more-than-ready to never make another trip to Palm Springs to work on the many pieces of our kitchen. It's a good thing Thanksgiving wasn't planned to be at our house this year, we would have never been ready.

We have an MRI scheduled for Ryan on December 23. Children's Hospital called me Thursday night to see if I could bring him in Friday morning. Unfortunately that day just wouldn't work given my San Francisco work load right now. Then, of course, they had a Monday opening (the day I travel). I insist on being with him, so I will keep the December 23 appointment and hope that something will open up on a day that I'm not scheduled to travel.

Ryan is growing so quickly. He's such a personable baby. Ryan is still very adjusted at daycare. He is very well liked and he exchanges the sentiment! It's neat to think that we'll be able to look back and think that Nina will have been caring for Ryan since he was only 2 months old. We really like her - she and Rosa are pretty amazing.

Fire in OC

2008-11-15T20:53:00.000-08:00

Our thoughts and prayers are with our friends and family in Orange County whose homes are threatened by the fire.

Kitchen Remodel Progress

2008-11-15T15:55:00.000-08:00

This is the 3rd weekend that the kitchen has been under construction. So far, all of the new cabinet boxes have been put in the kitchen, pantry and laundry room. We are without the conveniences of a sink, dishwasher, stove and oven. But hey! That piece of paper is where I can visualize that the new sink will go! We have picked out the kitchen and laundry room sinks (I decided to go with cast-iron for both). We decided on a professional-style faucet for the kitchen and picked it up last night (along with a convenient hot/cold dispenser).

We started removing ceramic tiles this weekend (what a noisy AND DUSTY process). Visualize a fine powder of the white stuff shown in the photo all over your house. The counter tops got measured for granite this afternoon.

We still need to pick out backsplash tiles and arrange to have the granite and flooring installed. Drawers, door fronts, faux panels and crown moulding should be going in (hopefully) within the week.

For the most part (except for the DUST), the whole process has been painless (maybe Jeff has a different perspective because he's been doing all the work!!). I'd say that most of the hassle has been the embarrassment to have the insides of your cabinets exposed on tables in our entryway and an inconvenience to be without a sink or appliances. We've had a couple of occasions when we've decided to make some changes to our kitchen plan along the way - but everything has been easily adjustable. I'm looking forward to us having this all complete in the next couple weeks. I have to just keep in mind that we have only had the weekends to work.

Tomorrow we will not be working on the kitchen (unless Mario decides to come install doors/drawers after all) because Jeff will be taking Dylan to race. As usual, if it's not one project it's another! We always manage to run 1,000 miles an hour.

Sled Riders M.C. Dual Euro Scrambles Race Weekend

2008-11-08T20:52:00.000-08:00

Dylan took 1st place in Saturday's novice race.

It's too bad we weren't there. I guess he had an exciting race. He was the 2nd person through the bomb and the whole race was a close race race until the very end, where he overtook his competitor on the rock hill while the spectators cheered him on. As he passed him (the crowd goes wild), he held up his left hand pointing his index finger to let him know who was number one!! He said it was an exhilarating feeling.

He raced again today for Best of the West points. He had a 4-kick start and crashed 2 times but he still managed to come in 4th overall and 2nd in class.

With only a few races left this year, he has a shot at first place Novice. We have no idea where he is ranked in Best of the West but we think he is top 5 for sure. (The steward has never posted the results)

Not Again!

2008-11-06T20:43:00.000-08:00

Since Ryan was released from the hospital, we've been administering home care to help cure his anal stenosis. Last week his doctor suddenly wanted to get real aggressive in treating Ryan. He stepped up the dilation progress and wanted us to bring him back in one week (which was today).

At our appointment today, the doctor indicated that he has suspicion that Ryan's condition is a bit more severe than just anal stenosis. He believes it to be rectal stenosis - which would require surgery similar to - but more extensive than - the Hirschsprung's procedure.

An MRI is being scheduled at Children's Hospital LA. If, after the MRI, there is a confirmed diagnosis of the condition, then I will share all of the detail that I was given today with all of you. It may be a couple of weeks before we can get it scheduled.

In the meantime, put Ryan in your prayers.

Tonight I look at him while he sleeps peacefully in his crib. I just love him so much. I know that regardless of what is determined, he will be okay. I look forward to the day that we aren't taking him to the doctor for anything accept his regular check-ups.

Good night, Ryan. Sweet dreams little baby. Someday this will all be over. Your Mommy & your Daddy love you!!!

Obama v McCain

2008-11-04T22:00:00.000-08:00

Obama Accepts:

McCain Conceeds:

Decision '08 Presidential Election Results

2008-11-04T00:01:00.000-08:00

Dylan & Randi go to Homecoming

2008-11-01T18:44:00.000-07:00

Tonight is Glendora High School's Homecoming dance. We started the event by taking pictures at 4p. Everyone looked so amazing. It was fun to see all of the couples dressed up. Dylan posed with his brother (Ryan) and Randi with Cadence, her niece. As time passed on and more and more couples in the group arrived it slowly transitioned to darkness and the sprinkles began to fall.

Just moments before the party bus arrived, it began to pour and all of the kids scattered to any dry location they could find - in cars, under trees, under umbrellas (some were prepared for this!) under sweaters/jackets and under trees.

44 kids lined up to seek shelter into the party bus. One would think that this would have been the saving grace. The bus driver did not immediately load the kids on to the bus - so they stood out in the rain getting soaked. From what I was hearing, he was having everyone sign waiver forms. I guess I may have handled the signing differently given the weather situation, but what's done is done. I felt bad for the girls standing out there in their little dresses and their open toed-shoes... and their freshly prepared hair now soaked from the rain.

The kids were off for "formal pictures" at the dance. (Those should be interesting... now that they are all soaked)

After pictures, they were all headed to sushi - then back to the dance - then to Victoria Gardens for ice cream!

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T11:10:00.000-07:00

Our Little Monkey

Our Little Pumpkin

Tanner Norton (1998 - 2008)

2008-10-27T23:59:00.000-07:00

After a short 10 years of life, Tanner (Sister Betrille) Norton has been laid to rest.

Tanner suffered with seizures his entire life. Over the past several months, the seizures became more frequent and more severe. On Sunday Tanner suffered 9 severe seizures in a 24-hour period. Jeff and I decided it was best to put Tanner down.

Hopefully Tanner will no longer suffer.

What was I worried about?

2008-10-23T21:23:00.000-07:00

Dress - Check!
Tux - Check!
Flowers - Check!

Stay tuned for updates.

Back to Work and Homecoming

2008-10-22T22:04:00.000-07:00

Before I begin my tale... double click on Ryan's picture. (He's started blowing bubbles!)

Monday was my first day back at work. In splitting my time between Santa Monica and Irvine offices - I opted to go into Santa Monica to be with Laurie (my partner in crime) to start my work week. My first day started off a little late - but it was my first time abiding by a schedule so I think I actually did pretty good and was only about 30 minutes behind schedule.

The night before, I stayed up until 1a preparing a detailed packet (okay ... a Newsletter) for the provider (Nina). It was one of those crazed mom letters with the detailed section on likes and dislikes, etc - but there was also a letter of consent, contact information and copies of our insurance cards, etc that I knew she'd need. By the time that I dropped off Ryan in the morning I realized how silly the packet actually was.... especially when Nina mentioned that she had a packet of her own that was necessary for her files in the event of an audit. So I just let her know that I typed everything up in case she needed it and recognized that I knew SHE knew what she was doing and got out of there! I probably wasn't there more than 5 minutes. I knew I couldn't spend a lot of time hovering over Ryan and creating a long good-bye because it would only make it harder on me.

I had to figure out the pumping "thing" when I got to work . Apparently there is a lactation room (I've re-named it the "mommy" room) in the Santa Monica office. (Who knew?) It's a private room with a massage chair a refrigerator and a radio. It's actually a great private place... I think I may escape there just for the massaging chair!!

My first day back was one of those days where everything was hectic. Nothing worked. My work station had been disconnected from internet connectivity, once I did log on - my computer password had expired and required resetting from our Detroit office. I had a ton of emails to get through, I had a conference call and I spoke with a few co-workers to get updates on projects and happenings. In between each task I had to find time to use the mommy room. Needless to say, I didn't take a lunch break - but mowed through a stale bag of Pirate Booty (left over prior to my leave) and then hit up the vending machine on my way out for a snicker bar and a coke. (Sounds gross when I think of that now).

When I arrived to pick up Ryan - he was happy and content. Nina raved about what a "happy" baby Ryan was. She is great with him -and it is very comforting knowing that Ryan is in good hands.

I was supposed to have Wednesday through Friday off this week to EASE back into my first week. I must have been delusional to think that was actually possible. Of course the Client would want a meeting this week - -so I worked from home today to help Laurie prepare a presentation for a Thursday lunch meeting. So I guess I get one day this week to EASE back into work.

On a separate note.....
Dylan asked his best friend Randi to go to Homecoming tonight. Way to spring it on me - it's in 2 weeks! (Somehow I think he did this to me last time, too)

So here's how it all transpired: Dylan got into his monkey suit and took a bunch of bananas with "Homecoming" written on them over to her house. (Kids just don't ask someone if they want to go to the dance anymore - - it's this big production now) Her mom Karin told me she was totally scared by the monkey suit - but said "yes" anyways.

Add "Get Dylan Ready For Homecoming" to our full schedule. I just hope Dylan can get a tux in time, Randi can find a dress she likes and that we can all remain as stress-free as possible.

100s Weekend

2008-10-19T20:47:00.000-07:00

We spent the weekend in Johnson Valley with Dylan's motorcycle club. Next weekend is the 41st annual National Hare & Hound race that the club is hosting. Jeff, Dylan and Dylan's friend Nick were out this weekend helping to set up the 110 mile course by tying ribbon, moving boulders, hammering stakes in the ground, etc.

This was Ryan's first time in the motor home and his first time away from home. Overall, I think he did good. There was little room to go when he was fussing and it made it difficult on him an I to quickly find comfort. It was a new environment and we had to figure out where Ryan would sleep (bunkbed vs our bed). The bunkbed was okay - -but he pushes himself out of his "nest" (a sleeping contraption that keeps him slightly propped up and in one place... but really meant to be used when sharing a bed with the parents) I get too worried about him - - but when I put him in bed with us, I can't sleep because I'm curled up into a little ball and my head is kinked.

I got to use the jogger stroller to walk him around in. It worked really well. He seemed to enjoy it. Ryan spent most of the time in his open-top portable swing. He is very comfortable in it. It's what gave me most of my freedom over the weekend. Thank god for that swing! Overall, we just didn't have the comforts (and space) of home. Being in the motorhome was really like being confined to our kitchen!

I was hoping to have some pictures to share of Ryan, but I didn't have much spare time outside of trying to keep him occupied.

Since this weekend was a little overwhelming for me and Ryan, I think that we may elect to stay home next weekend. I need to really think about it. Next weekend will be chaotic for the club - and I anticipate that the days and nights will be very long. We'll probably be best accomodated at home.

All-in-all, the boys really put in a lot of time and hard labor this weekend. I'm sure that they're glad to be home. They are both complaining of sore muscles, so I can only imagine what the next couple of days will be for them! I think all of us will have a hard time getting up tomorrow morning.

Sometimes I don't know how we all keep it together. Jeff works full time, Dylan has a zero-period start (giving him an extra period each day), we always have projects going -- oh, and did I mention I go back to work tomorrow? I get to go from a screaming baby to screaming clients. I can't wait!

Not!

Wii-kend Gathering

2008-10-12T22:51:00.000-07:00

Ryan and I got together with my family this evening for my Uncle Jim's birthday dinner. It's always a great time to get together with my aunts, uncles and cousins. We always have a lot of fun. My uncle was gifted a Wii for his birthday so we spent a couple of hours after dinner playing sporting games together.

With 4-player capability, we all took turns bowling and playing tennis, but it was the boxing match between my two uncles that was the highlight of the evening. Uncle Denny and Uncle Jim matched up against each other for an intense match-up. Their expressions during the boxing match are priceless!

In the end, Uncle Denny took the win. :)
I'm sure they'll both be feeling the "burn" tomorrow!

Monkey Smiles

2008-10-11T22:18:00.000-07:00

Ryan has a few nicknames - one of which is "Monkey" - for the cute little chimpanzee face he has when he's looking around. (For the record, I happen to just adore chimps and I use the reference lovingly) So when I saw this little monkey hat, I had to get it!!! It's perfect for him!

We've really been enjoying Ryan's smiles. He is very selective about when he will smile for you so we are very captive when he is smiling. (As we are when he coos) We recently got him a mobile. I captured a couple smiles while he watched his mobile in his crib this evening. I can never get enough of this guy smiling!

Lots of Activities

2008-10-06T20:03:00.000-07:00

It's only been 5 days since I last updated the blog but it seems like it's been forever!! I know some of you check regularly and have inquired about the timing of my next post. Sorry for the delay... sometimes life just takes over.

Let's see... where to begin:

Since we haven't had very many updates on Dylan lately, we'll start with him.

Dylan is taking a forensics class this year. As part of extra credit, Dylan signed up to do a ride-along with the Glendora Police Department. From 5:30 to 9:30p last Wednesday (10/1), Dylan got to ride in (the front seat of) a police car and participated in a traffic stop, a child services call, and a drug bust. Dylan was really excited about his ride-along and has mentioned wanting to become a police officer after his experience. You'll have to ask Dylan about his ride. He really likes telling the story of his night.

Also on Wednesday: Jamey Skurtovich (our friend from Atlanta) came over for dinner and met Ryan. It was so nice to see Jamey. We really like the Skurtovich's (Jill, Jamey & JT). It's too bad we live so far apart!

My great-uncle Jim and aunt Ann came over on Saturday. It was their first time at our house and their first time meeting Ryan. They brought my Nana (his sister) with them. We visited for a couple hours in the morning. Uncle Jim is so great with kids! It was exciting to see him interact with Ryan.

Jeff attended his 20 year class reunion at the Aquarium of the Pacific on Saturday evening. He really had a great time. I didn't go. I wasn't ready to leave Ryan yet - - and besides... my hair hasn't been cut or colored in 12 weeks. I wasn't going anywhere with roots that are grey and 3 inches long !!! As I told Jeff, "I had a date with a cuter man" (Ryan).

Jeff had already put in several hours of work on Thursday and Friday at our rental property. My aunt Dorothy, uncle Jim (not the same one who was over on Saturday) and cousin Jenni met us at our rental Sunday morning to help us knock out the remaining projects. Little did we know that it would take five of us to paint for 10 hours and one (Dylan) to do yard work and pick up trash.

-We're still not done!!

I just about died. I know my uncle Jim was hurting bad... I wasn't too far behind him. I know I suffered all day today with terrible back pain. We still need to finish painting trim and doors (the trim seems to be taking 4 coats of paint!) and we still need to do minor repairs. I can't wait to get these projects off our "to-do" list!

Ryan continues to melt my heart. He's growing so quickly. It seems as though we adjust the straps in his car seat on a weekly basis! He no longer fits into his newborn clothing (he's moved on to his 3-6 month outfits now and he's only 6 weeks old). His hair continues to lighten up and his cheeks have pudged out! Developmentally, Ryan has really started to make vocal sounds, he is smiling and he recognizes Jeff's and my voice. He spends a little bit of time each day on his activity center (see video, turn ON sound)- but mostly enjoys looking at ceiling lights and windows. He is sleeping better during the day which gives me a little bit of time to get caught up on things (like this blog) - - or to take a quick nap.

Bath Time

2008-10-01T14:27:00.000-07:00

Ahhh... Classic pictures of a baby and a bath.
Despite the crying picture... Ryan really does like his baths. He loves the warm water and it really calms him down - especially at the end of the day.

I've been using the baths to my advantage the last couple of days because Ryan has been such a crank! It's almost as though he has developed a case of colic. He doesn't sleep very long throughout (seriously... only for like 5 minutes...just enough time to put him in his crib and get comfortable on the couch, and then WAHHHHH!) Then, when he is awake he just cries! (Just like the picture in the bath) It's been pretty rough. I use the opportunity to hand him off to Jeff when he gets home, but that never helps - - so back to me. It's been an exhausting couple of days.

Hopefully Ryan will get over the blahs and return to the happy baby of last week. If not, I guess I might go back to work early after all!!!

Mmmmmm.... Wedding Cake - And a Rose!

2008-09-29T17:00:00.000-07:00

Rose - my girlfriend from High School came by to visit today. She brought my absolute favorite thing... wedding cake!!!

I guess it's really just "cake" - - but it's the REALLY good kind of cake. Long story short, her son's grandmother (Peggy) makes fabulous cakes and was the one who made the cake for our wedding reception. I really started craving her cake around my baby shower (and every other birthday and anniversary worthy of a cake). Well, Rose surprised me with one of Peggy's cakes when she came to visit!

Unfortunately, the cake is almost gone... not good for my weight loss, I'm sure. Oh well.... it's wedding cake!! It's a good thing Peggy doesn't live near me. I'd be in some serious trouble.

It was nice to visit with Rose. It's hard to image that she and I have been friends for 17 years now. That's a LONG time - and she's been a great friend. :)

Look Ma! No Hands!

2008-09-26T14:03:00.000-07:00

The last couple weeks at home with Ryan have been great! My biggest challenge has been the ability to be mobile throughout the day because Ryan has been a better napper while being held. I've attempted to let him cry to see if he would eventually cry himself to sleep, but he doesn't... and it's too heart breaking to hear him catch his breath and whimper to calm himself from all the crying he's done....only to fall back asleep while I hold him.

When you hold a baby all day long, you don't have the ability to do anything around the house but sit. Even taking a phone call has not easy. By the end of the day, my back is shot and I have done absolutely NOTHING all day long. I couldn't take it anymore - I broke down and ordered a Baby Bjorn carrier.

Hello... why didn't I get this contraption 3 weeks ago??? This carrier holds Ryan at my chest and feels comfortable to my back. For the first time, I am able to get around the house and get small things accomplished while Ryan sleeps at my chest. It's a WIN WIN situation for both of us. He gets to be close to me and I regain the use of my hands - even if just to pour myself a glass of water! (I definitely don't need another kidney infection now, do I?)

I ordered a baby sling carrier, too - - but it hasn't yet arrived. I can't wait to see if the sling is equally functional.

Not too much else has been going on. My good friend Sarena came today from Del Mar to visit with Ryan. Sarena and I have been friends for about 10 years... and amazingly she had never met Jeff until this morning. Crazy! As always, it's always great to get visitors so that I have interaction with people other than the boys in this house. Sarena treated us this morning with coffee and bagels. What a great treat!

Our kitchen cabinets will start getting delivered this weekend - but Jeff and I have decided to slow down the installation process for sake of our own sanity. With our need to get our rental property "rent ready" and then balancing the next few weeks of Jeff's class reunion, a drag race work weekend and (2) back-to-back motorcycle club work weekends (for Dylan).... it makes sense to hold off on installation until November. If nothing else, delaying the install will give me time to make decisions on sinks, faucets, knobs/handles, granite and tile.... which has not been decided in all the chaos of life since Ryan has been born. I'll cross my fingers that our kitchen will be done by Thanksgiving!!

What's With the Projectile?

2008-09-22T17:00:00.001-07:00

WARNING: This blog discusses bodily functions and motherly acts . If that weirds you out, please do not read this posting of our blog. If you are a parent, though, I'm sure you've already experienced this and can relate. ...but I don't want to hear your comments about what I posted on a blog if you decide to keep reading on - so do so at your own risk!

Although I am not completely sure of when it all began, I know it was right around the time that I got sick with my kidney infection. Because I stopped eating and drinking over a few days time, my milk supply went down substantially. (Not to mention that I was so ill, I didn't even want to nurse). During this time we depleted all of the breast milk storage we had accumulated during Ryan's hospital stay and moved on to feeding Ryan formula to make sure that he was getting all of the food that he needed.

I had already mentioned in a previous blog that Ryan had an episode of projectile vomit during Dylan's school meeting. That incident was probably the 2nd or 3rd incident of projectile vomiting. Since then, there have been others:

Saturday - Jeff and I needed to run over to our rental property so that we could determine what needed be done in order to get it listed for rent once again. We fed Ryan a bottle of formula and spent an additional 15-20 minutes getting him burped so that we could feel comfortable about avoiding a projectile incident. We put Ryan in his car seat and got him situated in the car. Jeff did a little more running around to make sure that he had a measuring tape and other items that we would need for the rental walk-through. As I sat down in the front seat of the car, I heard a splat! I got out of the car and to the back seat to realize that Ryan had spit up all over the back seat of the GX (so much for my ingenious "burp him for 15-20 minutes" plan). Luckily most of the vomit had cleared the inside of the car seat and his body - - but the mittens on his hands and his socks were soaked. The leather was more of a casualty in this case. Jeff had to unstrap the car seat and the base to clean up the puddle left behind (I can not imagine if I had CLOTH seats....all that sour milk soaking into the foam of a hot car - ack!). We rinsed the mittens and the socks and put them in the windshield to dry - and went on about our day.What if this had happened while I was driving on the freeway in traffic? What would I have done? Would I have even known anything happened?

Sunday - Jeff's parents brought us dinner. While we ate, Grandma Norton fed Ryan a bottle of formula. We warned that he needed to be burped during and after his feeding and I even took over the task of burping trying to get anything to come up out of Ryan. Nothing ever came up. This could not possibly end up good.

After his parents had left and Dylan's friend Randi was here to visit with Dylan. As Ryan lay on his back on our couch and as Randi and I hovered over Ryan adoring him - PROJECTILE! - he vomited straight up into the air and back down on to his own face. I quickly grabbed him and turned him on his side and pat his back to keep him breathing. At least the episode was over... I knew it was coming... but it is still not an easy feeling knowing that vomit is always right around the corner.

Monday - I fed Ryan a bottle of formula this morning, got him burped and held him upright for 30 minutes before laying him down in his port-a-crib for his morning nap. No sooner did I walk into the kitchen to grab a bite.... and I heard a splat! I rushed over to the crib and poor little Ryan was choking and gasping for air. Vomit was miraculously sprayed all over the bed of the crib. I quickly grabbed him, wiped his mouth and made sure he was breathing and thanked my lucky stars that I was nearby to hear him. What if I were in another room - or in the shower and didn't hear him gagging? Would he have choked to death?

Completely freaked out, I made an appointment with his pediatrician to make sure there wasn't anything serious going on - like Pyloric Stenosis. Ryan's pediatrician says that Ryan is gaining weight and continues to have an appetite - therefore he thinks that the projectile vomit is all related to formula feeding... which means breast milk ONLY if I want the projectile to stop.

For now, I will still be hawking over Ryan while he sleeps to make sure that there aren't any issues with gagging or vomit. So much for getting anything accomplished during the day.

Time flies!

2008-09-18T19:04:00.000-07:00

It's been kind of a crazy week.
We had Jeff's Aunt and Uncle (Nancy & Ken) over for dinner on Monday night. Nancy cooked for us and we really enjoyed a personal visit.

As part of Dylan's success at the high school we arranged to have regular meetings with his teachers and his counselor to make sure that Dylan is on track. His Junior and Senior year will both be packed with 7 periods. He will not be able to fail any of his classes if he wants to graduate. We had our first meeting with Dylan's teachers on Tuesday. I was brave enough to bring Ryan to this meeting. Ryan started to get fussy in the middle of the meeting and I pulled him out of his stroller to hold him. Moments later he had projectile vomit in three intermittent spurts - down my chest, down my leg and off on to the floor of the conference room. I could have died. Needless to say, Dylan is doing a great job so far this year and we had some great feedback from the school in our meeting.

Jeff left on Tuesday night for his first overnight since Ryan was born. My Aunt Dorothy came to stay with me for two nights to help out. She graciously took Dylan to school in the morning (he starts at 6:45) and then helped me out throughout the day.

Aunt Dorothy and I took Ryan to get his first professional photos on Wednesday. (see slideshow) I was so anxious to share them on the blog, but wanted to surprise Jeff with them when he got home tonight. Now that he has seen them, I have posted them to share with our family and friends.

It's hard to believe that it's been 29 days since Ryan has been born. In my mind all I see is how quickly the time is passing and how quickly I will be returning to work. I still have the task of finding daycare for Ryan - which I am dreading. I hope the process is quick and painless but I know that there are going to be some real doozies out there!

Until next time...

Nana's Rule

2008-09-14T21:08:00.000-07:00

Some people have Grandma's and some people have Nana's. I always believed that Nana's were a little more special - especially because not everyone has a "Nana". (Ryan and Dylan both have "Grandma's" - - see.... rather common.....not that it's a bad thing.... just that it's common).

For those who know me very well - you know that my Nana and I are very close. We have been close my whole life. In the last few years - we don't see each other very much but we do talk on our cell phones very regularly. She hasn't had the tech know-how to get onto our blog, so she has not been getting the updates that most of you that read regularly have. Until she arrived on Sunday, she had not even seen a picture of Ryan. (As a great-grandmother waiting to see her great-grandson, this was killing her!)

During her time with us, she cooked, dusted, vacuumed, swept, mopped, folded laundry, cleaned bathrooms, helped me care for Ryan, stayed by my bedside in the hospital, held down the house if I needed to run an errand and simply provided me with a lot of companionship during her week here. For those of you who have had a baby - or have ever needed assistance in any way, you know valuable all of that help truly is. I am so glad to have had my Nana here this week!! We really needed that extra help!

I will be taking Nana home tomorrow, but not before I bookmark the blog onto her laptop. I will miss having her here, we had a great time (mostly at Tanner's expense). I take her back knowing I can call her if I am ever in need and she would be here!

THANKS FOR EVERYTHING NANA!! You are always welcome here!
XOXOXO

Mama's Home

2008-09-12T22:38:00.000-07:00

First of all -- I still give Jeff grief for proposing to me on 9-11. But I guess you have to take those moments as they come. I didn't even think about my getting admitted on 9-11 - even though we passed a group of people on the way to the hospital with their American flags and their signs "We'll Never Forget". Must have been the fever. Seriously. I was getting a little delirious. Ironic, though, the symbolism of the bronze statues outside my hospital.....

Regarding this kidney infection thing.... I didn't ever think I had a UTI. How is it possible to be this badly infected without previous signs? WTF. When I started getting the pains in the kidney area, I immediately started chugging water and juice and I did go into the doctor for antibiotics... but I was too far gone I guess. The fever was horrible. Tylenol wouldn't even touch it. The shaking was basically my body going into total shock. It only took a slight breeze for me to begin with the chattering and then it was all downhill from there. The shivering took over my whole body and then all of my muscles would clench up. My chest got sore and it got very difficult to breathe. I couldn't hold anything because my hands were shaking so much. It was almost like a little seizure. It was very scary - so hearing that we needed to "ride it out" was a little unnerving.

I survived the night in the hospital, but I didn't sleep real well. I was hot. I was cold. When I was cold it was because I had a fever - - and the nurses would strip me of blankets and make me put ice packs under my arms. When I was hot it was usually the Vicodin putting me into sweats - so then I was kicking my own covers off. But through all of that, I never even worried about whether or not Ryan was okay. I know that my Nana and Jeff had everything under control. Mostly I just missed Ryan - but I knew that I needed to take care of myself first.

As usual, the hospital food was horrible and I hardly ate anything while I was in there. When we were getting ready to get discharged, they ordered one last round of blood work to make sure that the white blood count had increased - but what they had found instead was that my hemoglobin levels had dropped since I was admitted (which would indicate a loss of blood - but I was not bleeding). I was originally told that I was going to be staying one more night. .....so I ate the food. Wouldn't you know it.... they decided to let me go home. Damn!

I need to drink LOTS of fluids, I will be taking two antibiotics and I have Vicodin for pain and fever. I promised that we would go back to the hospital if I ran a fever again or if I have any new symptoms.

I'm glad to be home. I hope for this all to pass in the next few days with my current medications. I just feel like my time at home is flying by. I'd just like to enjoy my days at home with Ryan while I have them.

9-11...what does it mean to you?

2008-09-11T22:47:00.001-07:00

Jeff here. To most, it means a day of a horrific terrorist attack seven years ago. I will never forget that. Let's fast forward 3 years from that day and I will tell you it means a great day of building for me. It was the day Melissa accepted my wedding proposal in Washington, D.C. (on the Skyview Terrace of the Hotel Washington which boasts amazing views of the White House and the Washington Monument - see photo) Weird day to pick, just how it worked out. I didn't get the nerve up to do it on the 10th. See, something else I will never...or BETTER NEVER...forget. Lets fast forward 4 years. That puts us 2008. Yet another day I won't forget...

For the past few days, Melissa has been feeling VERY bad. On Tuesday, she had a lot of pain and was running a fever. The nurse had her come by the doctor's office and pick up a sample of medication that is designed to relieve the symptoms of a UTI. They could not see her that day. After the second dose, we thought she had a reaction to the sample. She suddenly got shaky chills, looked flush, blue lips, . A phone call through the medical exchange to talk to one of the doctors led us to a "You just need to ride it out" answer. We got through it, but were prepared to head to the E.R.

Wednesday, she went in to her doctor. They gave her an antibiotic to treat a kidney infection, because that's most probable, but needed to wait for lab results to confirm. Along with the antibiotic, she got something for the pain. Well, we found out the shaky chills did not come from that sample medication because she got them again. We make it through the night and in the morning she still feels under the weather.

I had taken today day off, and its a good thing. She had been taking the antibiotic as prescribed and Tylenol around the clock. None the less her temperature got up to 104.4. I got her into a cool bath to help it get back down to 100.3 and got on the phone with her doctor. Long story short...Guess who gets to spend the night in the hospital? Well, its not me 'cause I am typing this. Its not Ryan, he's in his crib sleeping. It might be Dylan, but I think he went to bed. You guessed it. Melissa was admitted to the hospital this afternoon. A combination of i.v. fluids and antibiotics, along with some more Tylenol got her temperature back to normal. They still are not sure exactly what it is as we are waiting for lab reports to come back. Her doctor stopped by and thinks its a left kidney infection.

Here is the real test....will Ryan survive the night with just Dad watching him. Stay tuned to find out.

Wanted: More Blog!

2008-09-07T22:04:00.000-07:00

I haven't realized until lately how many people have been regularly checking our site for updates. I have been hearing that I need to post more regularly - but I fear that the posts will become about "nothing". I'd really rather save the updates for major events.

Dylan had a desert race today at Red Mountain. He went out with the Dodd's early this morning for a day trip - Red Mountain is about a 2 -1/2 hour drive. Dylan was unable to finish the race because he hit a rock and broke his shift lever. He would have had a great chance of a strong finish had he not have broke that lever. What a bummer!

Jeff goes back to work tomorrow. I can't believe how quick 3 weeks has gone by. I know that my time home with Ryan will fly by just as fast! I desperately need to get childcare lined up for me to return to work. It's really too bad that more offices don't offer on-site child care.

My grandma came to our house today and is staying with us until Friday. It will be nice to visit with her and for her to have time to spend with Ryan. It's hard to believe that it was 16 years ago that my grandma was ooohing and ahhhing over Dylan as a newborn. I just want to savor the time with Ryan - - now that I know how quick time flies.

Getting Acclimated

2008-09-05T13:03:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that we brought Ryan home just 4 days ago. In these few days we have been adjusting to life at home with a newborn.

At only 16 days old - Ryan has demonstrated that he is a very good baby. He doesn't cry very much and he is a very social. He has a look that you just know is filled with curiosity and wonder. He is very laid back and calm. Ryan spends much of his time sleeping. He only wakes up twice at night and is quick to fall back to sleep. Jeff and I really enjoy Ryan. It's comforting to sit down and hold him or just gaze lovingly at him while he sleeps.

Ryan had his first follow up doctor's appointment yesterday. The surgeon showed Jeff how to use the dilaters on Ryan. I have assigned Jeff to be the "bad cop" and take on this daily task. It brings a whole new meaning to "you just wait until your father gets home!". The surgeon thinks that the dilation process will take about 6 weeks. We are hopeful that this process will correct Ryan's stinosis and that he will not require further surgery (albeit minor). It will be nice to get this past us.

Other than day-to-day life with Ryan, we haven't done too much. The Norton's sent a great dump-truck flower arrangement (see photo), the Vinci's brought over a home-cooked meal on Wednesday night and we made our first social trip out of the house last night... to sushi dinner, to Aunt Wendy's hair salon and to Grandma and Grandpa Norton's house (all in the same city block).

I will update the blog once or twice a week now.

Ryan's Home!!!!

2008-09-02T10:19:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note that Ryan is home and got home yesterday, Labor Day, in the afternoon. Is the irony that after a day of labor, we didn't get him home until Labor Day?

We were obviously busy and I am sure Mel will post today her account of the event.

Jeff

11 Days Old (And Still Amazingly Precious)

2008-08-31T23:00:00.000-07:00

I just realized today that it is a holiday weekend. Jeff and I have been so busy running back and forth between home and the hospital that we didn't even realize that under normal circumstances we might have orchestrated a BBQ at our house. Hot dogs, Hamburgers, kegs of beer and root beer. Swimming. Good times with Good Friends.

We haven't talked to many of our friends and family about their weekend plans- but we hope that most of you are enjoying the long weekend and celebrating the last holiday of the summer! (I can't believe how time flies!)

We started our day at 5:30a. We were to the hospital by 8a. We met Ryan's day nurse "Soon" this morning. Soon "SUCKS". English was definitely a second language to our nurse. It was difficult to converse with her and she wasn't the level of nurse that we have grown accustomed to in the NICU.
- We would talk to her and she wouldn't realize that we were talking. The other nurse in the room would have to tell her we were talking to her.
- We would try to tell her how we would be involved throughout the day and she didn't always understand.
For example:
It took telling her 4 times that we wanted to weigh Ryan between feedings (she wasn't understanding the word "weigh")
We talked about going to get "all" of the bottles we had from home and she translated that we were going to the "mall".

ARRRRRGH! Are you KIDDING me?!! I'm tired AND cranky and I have to deal with this woman?!!

To further complicate the positive flow of our day, the Doctor did not write an order for Ryan's discharge partly because there were no written notes on discussions we've had with his surgeon and other Doctor's about what it would take to get Ryan home. All the forces were against us. Had we have had a stronger nurse - and had the doctor's conversations about discharge been better documented, we might have been able to bring Ryan home. Oh well. At this point, what's one more day?

Jeff and I attended the 8 and 11a feedings this morning. We actually put Ryan into one of his own outfits today. The good news is that he still fits in "Newborn" clothing. We weren't sure if he would be able to fit into his newborn outfits because he was over 8 lbs. Jeff brought me home to rest from 1p - 4:15. While at home, I threw the batch of newborn clothes into the washer since we know that Ryan will be able to wear them for at least a short while. I got in a couple hours of solid sleep - which was badly needed. While I rested, Jeff went back to the hospital (mostly because we had very little faith in Soon's ability). Jeff came back and picked me up for the 5 and 8p feedings.

The night nurse was the consummate "Grandma" nurse. She shed a lot of light on the Doctor's and Nurse's different work styles. She also better defined realistic feeding quantities and what would be considered normal stool amounts. (I know... the things we concern ourselves with these days. Believe me, I can't believe I'm blogging about poo!) Ryan's nurse will spoil him tonight. She's the type of nurse who picks you up when you cry and feeds you when you cry and not just at a specified time. We felt much better about leaving Ryan tonight. We may have had to stay if we had Soon as the night nurse.

I honestly don't know how Jeff and I are still going at this point - Especially Jeff since he didn't get in that long nap like I got! We are both running on fumes at this point. Hopefully tomorrow is the "BIG DAY". We will actually be better rested by having Ryan here at home. Isn't that crazy?

Add Five

2008-08-30T23:28:00.000-07:00

Eleven, Two, FIVE and Eight.

We started off our day running behind. I got ready while Jeff slept until 10:10a. (We need to leave no later than 10:30 to be to the hospital by 11a). We ran out of the house with no camera for the day. UGH!

We drove through the local McDonalds and ordered our usual fruit parfait with a water - and I called the NICU to let the nurse know that we would be running a little behind - - but to wait so that we could be there to feed Ryan. The nurse offered to let me start breast feeding today - which was a surprise because I assumed that they would not be able to allow this if they were trying to keep the feedings measured.

We arrived at the NICU and Ryan had been taken out of the incubator and was put into a crib-style bed. His IV was removed from his arm and he was in a onesie. Wow. What progress. The nurse weighed Ryan before and after his feeding to see how much he was taking in while being nursed. While he was only supposed to take in 65 cc's, he took in 80. This was okay by his doctor. As long as he would consume it, he would allow it.

Because of the breast feeding schedule, we incorporated the 5p feeding into our scheduled visits today. It made for a very long day.
- From 11-12:30 we were with Ryan. Grandma Norton came to visit and then we headed to lunch and then back to the NICU.
- From 2-3:30 we were with Ryan. His Nasogastric tube was removed!!!! Now all he has on him is his heart monitors. Pete and Jennifer Coorey came to visit and then we headed out for a stop at Babies R Us for some supplies. Back again to the NICU
- From 5-6:15 we were with Ryan. Jeff and I went out for sushi and then back again for the 8p feeding.
- From 8-10p we were with Ryan. Dom and Michelle Vinci came to visit and then we headed home for the night. With this visit, Ryan was moved to a new room in the NICU. He is now placed with the babies who are getting ready for discharge.

We arrived home at 10:30p.
- No tarantulas thank GOD. But I do wonder if that creepy thing has crawled up one of our palm trees - Anyways...

Dylan has been home alone all day. I went upstairs and spent some time visiting with him. Jeff spent time playing with the dogs. We feel bad that we have obligations to provide attention to those in our house who need us but have not been here to do so. Dylan is being a great sport. Parker is his usual characteristic self - see photo!

We are not sure if discharge will come tomorrow or Monday. Either way, we know Ryan is close to coming home. We can't wait. We are so excited about his progress. Today had a lot of milestones!!!!

Tomorrow we will incorporate the 8a feeding into our visitation schedule because the NICU only has enough milk storage on hand to get Ryan through the 5a feeding. Tomorrow will be another long day.

Eleven Two and Eight

2008-08-29T22:23:00.000-07:00

We again made our visits at 11a, 2p and 8p today.

11a - Ryan was awake when we arrived at our 11a visit. His nurse was changing his "house" (he got a new incubator). We gave Ryan a bath and then he was visited by the developmental nurse who came in and tested his reflexes to make sure that he was developing at the right pace for his age. Ryan least liked when the examiner flicked him on his feet to provoke crying. I thought that he would least like the feeling of being dropped - - but he actually didn't even cry. He just threw out his arms as if to balance himself from the fall.

His doctor confirmed that he is to increase feeding amounts by 5 cc's with each feeding. With this visit we gave him 25 cc's of milk. Jeff held him most of this morning. He slept most of the time.

2p - We came back to feed Ryan after Jeff and I had lunch. He was given a (second) hearing test - for which he (again) passed. The first test was given when he was 2 days old. They re-test as part of being at another hospital - and as part of the procedure for discharge. Because of the testing, Ryan was about one hour behind with his feeding. He was given 30 cc's of milk. Because of all of the activity of the day (bath, exercise, testing, increased feedings) Ryan again slept most of our visit.

Antibiotics were stopped and he is going to be slowly weened off of his IV at a rate equal to his milk increase.

8p - Ryan was sleeping when we got to the NICU. We changed his diaper, had him weighed and fed him 40 cc's. He didn't stay awake very long. He zonked out for most of the hour and a half we were there with him. (See picture)

By the time that we arrive for tomorrow's 11a visit - Ryan should be up to 65 cc's of milk. When he is able to sustain 80 cc's of milk, we will be able to bring him home. So for now, we just cross our fingers that he continues to be able to digest and poop! By this time tomorrow night we will know if Ryan is consuming the amount of milk that the doctor's want him to be eating in order to bring him home. We suspect that Sunday could be the day Ryan comes home!

TARANTULA!!!

2008-08-28T22:24:00.000-07:00

Look what was on our doorstep when we got home tonight!!
I HATE SPIDERS!
Who knew that we were in tarantula territory????

Jeff bravely boxed him up (I am assuming this creepy fellow is a "boy") and moved him off our front porch.

As creeped out as I am of spiders, I suggested that he squash it with a shovel - but he thought it would be best to just move it to a new home.

As a secondary option, I suggested flinging it viciously into the neighbors yard - hoping that it would die upon impact with the house or maybe even just from the trauma of being hurled across the street - but he decided against my suggestions and put it gently into the planter between our two homes.

It's a lucky day for the tarantula. However, I can not stop thinking about where this spider will end up. It is still out there... Yikes!

The Road We Have Been On

2008-08-28T17:11:00.000-07:00

The road we have been on in the last week has been one of ups and downs. We were UP the day that Ryan was born. We were DOWN on the day he got transported to NICU. When we heard he may only have stinosis and Ryan was allowed to begin feedng - we were UP. When we heard yesterday that he may have Hirschsprung's we were DOWN.

Our 8p visit last night followed suit with our news of the day. Ryan was very hungry with his reduced feeding and he was very fussy the whole time we were with him. He cried with frustration as we put him in his incubator for the night. It broke my heart to walk away from him - so we stayed to comfort him until he fell asleep. He fell asleep in frustration about 10p. We left knowing his next feeding was only one hour away and that we really need the rest.

On our road of ups and downs, we have now catapulted UP with news that Ryan does NOT have Hirschsprung's. He will not be transported to Children's Hospital. He will not require surgery. He will slowly be backed off of his antibiotics. He will again be put on a gradual increase of feeding amounts. All of this will lead to his discharge from NICU. We expect that he may be home by the end of this weekend, but we need to talk to his doctors tomorrow for a real timeline.

Moving forward, Ryan will still require some dilation to help with his stinosis, but this can be done in our home or with office visits. Jeff and I are more than willing to take on this minor task. What a relief.

Jeff has been a true rock. He has kept me grounded and has supported me when I did not think I could keep going. He has been my communicator to family and friends when I did not have the will to carry on a conversation. He has supported me in ways I didn't even realize I needed to get through this difficult week. I have an amazing husband.

I want to thank everyone for their positive thoughts and prayers. I think we realized through this whole process how much of a support system we really have. We look forward to bringing Ryan home and FINALLY introducing our new addition to family and friends. We know you will fall in love with him as we have.

While I know the road of parenthood will continue to bring ups and downs - I now have comfort that it will be done in good health.

Our visits today with Ryan have been great. He has been extremely happy and alert. He stayed awake during the majority of our 1-2 hour visits at 11a and 2p. Jeff and I are headed back to the hospital for his 8p visit. We have much more energy to make this trip than what we had just 24 hours ago!

Two Steps Foward, One Step Back

2008-08-27T17:03:00.000-07:00

The pathology test came back today indicating that it is possible that Ryan may have Hirshprung's Disease. His biopsy has been sent out to Children's hospital. We should have their final word within a few days. For now, Ryan will remain in NICU.

For those of you who need to know what Hirshprung's is (I know I did):
Hirschsprung's disease is a condition that affects the large intestine (colon or large bowel) and causes problems with passing stool. It's present when a baby is born (congenital) and results from missing nerve cells in the muscles of a portion of the baby's colon.

Hirschsprung's disease occurs in one in every 5,000 babies born and is responsible for one-fourth of intestinal obstructions in newborns. It's five times more common in boys.

Normally, as a baby grows in the womb, bundles of nerve cells (ganglia) begin to form between the muscle layers along the length of the colon. This process begins at the top of the colon and ends at the bottom (rectum). In children with Hirschsprung's disease, this process does not finish and the ganglia do not form along the entire length of the colon. Sometimes the cells are missing from only a few centimeters.

Surgery is the only proven, effective treatment for Hirschsprung's disease. The procedure is called pull-through surgery and involves removing the section of the colon that has no ganglia cells, then connecting the remaining healthy end of the colon to the rectum.

On the bright side, Ryan is still eating and passing gas and stool.
Jeff and I were with Ryan for his 11a and 2p feedings. We'll be with him again at 8p. We really just needed the rest after receiving the news. Although, as I write this... I feel guilty for not being there for his 5p feeding (it's 10 minutes after 5p right now).

And so we move forward - one day at a time. I really had my hopes up that he would be coming home this week. It's hard to imagine that it could be another week (or longer). We really won't know until we hear back from Children's Hospital.

God give me strength. I feel like like I'm breaking.

A Great Day

2008-08-26T22:16:00.000-07:00

Well - today was an eventful day. Dylan started his Junior year of High School and Ryan made great strides.

Dylan was the first awake in the house this morning. He woke Jeff up at 7:30 for a ride to school. I, on the other hand, took a little longer to wake from slumber. Waking some time after 8a (but probably closer to 9), it was near 11:30a before we made it to the NICU for our first visit with Ryan.

Jeff and I took turns holding Ryan. We each held him for about an hour waiting for the doctors to make their rounds. We just wanted to know if they would be removing the tube from his mouth and if they would allow feedings to begin. We were getting ready to leave for lunch and FINALLY someone came by with some answers!!
- - Ryan's tube was moved from his mouth to his nose. (He is soooo much happier!)
- - We were able to feed him for the first time since he was admitted on Friday. The doctors are gradually allowing food. He will start off with 10cc's of milk and will be fed every 3 hours. After the 3rd feeding, the quantity will go up 5 cc's for every 2 feedings.

The nurses had reported that Ryan needed much soothing last night because of his hunger. So when he was given his first (non IV) meal today - he was very happy about it!! He first latched on to the bottle and was a little surprised that he was getting something from it. Once he realized what was going on - - he viciously sucked down his 10cc's. He was so content - - and we were so happy that he was no longer going to be suffering pains of starvation.

After coming home to visit with Dylan after his first day of school, we headed back to NICU for the 2nd feeding at 5 and then came home again to get Dylan for the final visit and 3rd feeding at 8p. We are so excited to be able to feed him. We're equally excited that Ryan is continuing to poop and his stomach measurements continue to go down. These are all really good signs that he is doing well. Who would have ever thought we would want our baby to poop so bad?!?!

By the time we arrive tomorrow, Ryan will have had 4 more feedings and will be up to 25cc's of milk. We should also hear back on the results of the biopsy tomorrow. With this we hope to learn of when Ryan can come home. One last hurdle. Our fingers are crossed and we have nothing but positive thoughts.

It's been another 15+ hour day. We spent 8 hours in the NICU and another 3 hours making the commute to and from. We're off to bed and will be at it again tomorrow.

Slice of Heaven

2008-08-25T22:22:00.001-07:00

Today got off to a late start. Tired and exhausted, we woke up and got ready to go see Ryan. We arrived at the NICU at 10:30a and we were hopeful that the biopsy and doctor's visits had already taken place, but they hadn't. The pediatric surgeon came in around 11:30 and explained today's procedure and also some background for us.

1.) Ryan has anal stenosis - a narrowing of the anal opening, which makes it difficult for stool contents to pass through easily. Over the weekend procedures were done to clear the blockage and to dilate the opening. This has so far proved to be very effective and Ryan has been having regular bowel movements.

2.) Ryan's x-ray this morning looked great. He had the right amount of gas in his stomach and the distention in his stomach continued to go down.

3.) A biopsy was taken from Ryan today to rule out an underlying issue - Hirschsprung's Disease - which would be a greater issue. If the biopsy comes back from the hospital as negative - we are in the clear. We will know the results within 2 days. If the biopsy comes back positive or inconclusive, then the results will be sent out for further evaluation at Children's Hospital. These results can take an additional week.

For now, all is looking great. The doctor's have ordered the suction from Ryan's orogastric tube be stopped. He still has the tube in his mouth for now, but now his fluids (saliva, stomach acid, etc) are being re-introduced. Tomorrow Ryan will be allowed to SLOWLY introduce milk into his system. Each of these steps along with his ability to have bowel movements will determine when Ryan can come home.

If there is no indication of Hirschsprung's, then we may be able to bring him home as early as late this week. Of course our fingers are crossed that Ryan's condition is not that severe.

Ryan was alert this morning for our morning visit. He was pretty wiped out for our afternoon and evening visits. He slept most of the time that we were there with him. It's still nice to hold him even though he is sleeping.

We arrived home tired and exhausted (the same way we woke up). To our surprise, Randi and Jessica - Dylan's best friends - had brought us a banana merengue pie. Inside the pie box was written "Since your little slice of heaven isn't home, I hope you can enjoy a little slice of pie". It was a great end to our long day.

THANK YOU RANDI & JESSICA!!!!

Sunday Update - 8/24/08

2008-08-24T22:48:00.000-07:00

We make sure that we spend time with Ryan 3-4 times each day. This morning he was visited by his Aunt Nadia and Uncle Denny (pictured). This afternoon he was visited by his Grandma and Grandpa Norton and by his Aunt Shelley and Aunt Wendy. Jeff and I went alone in the evening.

Ryan is doing very well. He is the baby in the NICU nursery who doesn't fuss or cry - and believe me... there is a lot of fussing and crying going around him (refer to sounds in below video)! We really have to put our situation in positive perspective when looking at what some of the other babies and families are faced with. With each of our visits today he was alert and looking around. (He was mostly sleeping on Friday and Saturday). It was nice to be able to bond with him.

Now that Ryan's stomach is starting empty and he continues to pass gas and have regular bowel movements - he is getting more and more hungry and aggressively sucks on his pacifier with false hopes of easing his hunger. It melts our hearts because there is nothing we can do to soothe him. Ryan will not be given any food until some point after tomorrow's biopsy. So for now, his IV nutrition will have to suffice.

Tomorrow will be a big day for us. Although I know there will most likely not be anything definitive, I hope that there will at least be some additional direction on any next steps and some idea on how much longer he will have to stay in the NICU.

Jeff and I just want to bring our little guy home!!

Update: Ryan Jeffrey Norton

2008-08-23T15:35:00.001-07:00

The most heartbreaking of all experiences is when - as a new parent - you have to go home without your baby. It is even harder when you have to follow your baby's ambulance as he is taken to a newborn intensive care unit.

Newborn babies are expected to have a bowel movement within 24 hours of birth. When Ryan had not had one in 48 hours, doctors confirmed by x-ray that he had a blockage. Not knowing what the specifics entailed, we handed over our newest addition for further tests. While it was difficult to see Ryan with tubes in his mouth and enclosed as what I would describe as an incubator, we knew he was in good hands.

Yesterday was truly the most heartbreaking day in my life. I have never cried like I did when we were being told that something was wrong with our baby. Every single fear of everything horrible passed through my mind. How is it possible that this perfect child who I had just spent the last 48 hours cuddling with was ill?

On a day that I expected to bring this perfect child home - I had to let him go. When visiting Ryan in the NICU, there was nothing as parents that we could do but wait. There would be no procedures done last night. We were told to go home and get some rest. I had so many questions racing through my mind: What would our new baby have to endure to find a cure to his ailment? Are they going to have to perform invasive surgery? Why weren't there immediate answers? Why can't they do the procedure NOW? When can we bring him home?

We knew that the diagnosis could be broad. It could be something as simple as a hardening of the meconium which would essentially create a "plug" - to something mechanical within the development of his organs. Today Ryan received an enema that released the blockage - however we are awaiting further "official" findings as it would relate to being a mechanical issue. For this, we will probably not know anything until Monday.

At this point, it will probably be at least Tuesday until we can bring our son home. We are coping - and staying very positive. Little things bring us both to tears. ...this morning it was the song playing from the singing balloon we received from the Lexus Western Area. (Baby Face Song by Art Mooney: Baby face...You've got the cutest little baby face...There's not another one could take your place) Even typing this blog chokes me up.

We'll keep this blog posted, but right now we're just waiting. Keep Ryan in your prayers.

The Wait Is Over...

2008-08-21T01:01:00.001-07:00

Friends, family and loved ones:

It was a long day that started before 5:00 a.m. at home getting ready to go to the hospital. After spending 20 hours there, I left Melissa to rest and my first task was to post this before I crashed.

At 2:15 p.m. on August 20, 2008, Ryan Jeffrey Norton took a breath and let out a cry. He clicked the scale at 8 lbs, 5 oz and was 21 inches long. 10 toes, 10 fingers, etc etc etc. Mom and baby are doing just fine. Big Brother Dylan, Grandma Norton, the Taylor family and Uncle Vinci came to visit.

I'll let Melissa give the full details of her day in a later post.

For me...it had to be one of the most amazing days of my life. I owe Melissa so much for giving me this child.

Here are just a few pictures. If you click on the photo, it will open "full size."

Thanks for all of your thoughts, prayers and well wishes.

Jeff

TOMORROW!

2008-08-19T10:26:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is the big day. I am scheduled to be admitted for induction at 5:30a. I don't know what is better: Being surprised by labor or being scheduled for labor. I'm a bit anxious now.

I've been a bit sick over the past few days. Sunday I got some type of stomach virus and then Monday I started suffering through they symptoms of a cold - sore throat, runny nose. I hate being sick!!

Today we are meeting with the cabinet guy to pick out the door style and view the final layout of our kitchen. (Remind me again why we're crazy enough to do a kitchen remodel at the same time as having a baby?!!!!)

I have this strange suspicion that today will go by very fast - and I was just complaining that the days were going by "so slow". Silly Mommy.

We can't wait to introduce Baby Norton to all our friends and family.

So Close - Yet So Far Away

2008-08-14T15:12:00.000-07:00

Jeff and I attended another Dr's appointment together today.

I am dilated 2 cm and the baby is estimated to weigh about 7lbs. 15 oz. in his 38th week.

The doctor will see me again on Tuesday - and will induce on Wednesday - if he doesn't arrive on his own before then.

Why are the days going by s-o-o-o-o-o-o s-l-l-l-l-l-l-o-w?

Dylan Goes To Pismo Beach

2008-08-11T18:03:00.000-07:00

Dylan is headed off to Pismo beach tonight with our neighbor (and his high school friend) Corbin Hawkins. The boys have spent most of today getting their bikes and camping gear ready to spend the week on the beach.

Corbin heads off to college soon, and Dylan starts school on the 26th - so this is probably the last time the two can spend any time together.

Dylan will have fun. Hopefully this baby will not come until Saturday, but if he does - Dylan will have a new baby brother to come home to.

August 19

2008-08-07T17:52:00.000-07:00

Big news today.

My doctor PROMISED me he would deliver this baby 10 days ahead of schedule if he doesn't come on his own. (Notice the new countdown ticker)

I was officially put on disability today. (Although, I am driving into Irvine tomorrow to meet with my NorCal counterpart and will be tying up some loose ends for a couple of days) Hopefully the official time off will allow me time to prepare the house for the baby.
- Suddenly it seems this kitchen remodel thing may not be such a good idea. Who's going to pick out the granite if I go into labor?!

Why do the last days always seem to take the longest???

Riders Helping Riders - Racetown 395

2008-08-03T21:00:00.000-07:00

From RHR Racetown 395

As part of the Best of the West series, Dylan participated in the second of three motocross events today. Aunt Dorothy, cousin Jenni, Uncle Dave and Aunt Clare were troopers and made the excursion with us.

The day started off very early. We left our house at 6:45a and drove to Racetown in Adelanto, CA. Arriving around 8:30a, we quickly set up camp and got Dylan signed up in 2 different races for the day.

The Best of the West class consists of desert racers only. Since Dylan had never ridden at Racetown and is not a seasoned motocross racer, we signed Dylan up in a second class. This second class was part of a motocross points series consisting heavily of pure motocross racers. Racing in the secondary class gave Dylan the chance to become familiar with the track prior to his series race for which he would receive points. Each of the two classes had two heat races consisting of 5 or 6 laps each. Within 3 laps of the motocross series race, Dylan fell into a groove and finished mid-pack against the MX racers. Not too bad for a desert guy!

Dylan placed first in both of the BOTW heats and walked away with the first place trophy. Because he took first place at Starwest and Racetown BOTW events, we are not committed to attend the Rovers I-5 event on the 17th.

Overall, the day was a long, hot one. We all put in about 11 hours of our day to be with Dylan - most of it in 108 degree temperatures. Again, it was worth it to see Dylan do so well! Needless to say, we are all exhausted from the day's event!

Baby Shower

2008-08-02T21:00:00.001-07:00

We made it to the baby shower!!
I was a little worried that baby Norton might make an appearance before the baby shower.

What a great (overwhelming) time! So many friends and family made an appearance. The weather was gorgeous. The Whites and the Taylors did a great job hosting the event - and it all went by so fast!

We have most of what we need to welcome baby Norton home. Thanks to all who were able to attend! It was so great to see you!

2 Weeks?

2008-07-31T15:43:00.000-07:00

Baby Norton is due in 29 days!!!!

As of today, I started weekly appointments. I have already started to dilate. (Wait, this is suddenly kind of scary) The doctor mentioned that we could be proud new parents within the next couple of weeks.

I got hooked up on a monitor today for 15 minutes to record the baby's heart rate, his movement and contractions. All seems to be well.

The most amazing thing was today's ultrasound. We actually got a glimpse of the baby's facial features. We could see his eyes, nose and lips as though he were looking right at us. The radiologist even mentioned that he has a head of hair. We saw his clenched little fists (fingers and all) that were tucked up right near his face and we could see each little toe on his feet. Oh no! It appears he may have Jeff's horrible feet! (Sorry, Little Guy!)

The technician actually spent a lot of time looking at the baby for us - unlike that last experience with the Ultrasound Nazi. Here is a picture of the baby's face. Not quite as impressive as it was in person. The ultrasound picked up a lot more shadows than what we could see on the screen - - but you'll get the idea.

I'm very much looking forward to my baby shower. Can't wait to see everyone!

More House Stuff...

2008-07-25T11:41:00.001-07:00

We loved Patty's work so much from the nursery that we also enlisted her to paint our master bedroom sitting area and the master bath. Until we move the TV in our bedroom to another wall, we can not paint the master bedroom. Hopefully that won't take to long. The sitting area and master bath are a deep chocolate color with gold leaves hand painted all over the walls. The bathroom and (eventually) the bedroom are a creamy-tan color wall with no stencil detail. It came out gorgeous - and a simple picture does not do the room justice.

Additionally, Patty painted "quotes" for us in the master bathroom and in the foyer.

So now there are only TWO bathrooms, two and-a-half bedrooms and a kitchen to update.

We've just started the ball rolling on our kitchen remodel - - It should be done right about the time I'm due!! Stay tuned for the updates!

Swollen

2008-07-18T13:53:00.001-07:00

It's hard to put into words what "swollen" really means.

It's a GIANT!

2008-07-15T17:21:00.000-07:00

Well, I was hoping to have an ultrasound photo to share with you for today's post - but the technician wasn't as giving as the others. She was all business!

With only 45 days to go, the baby is weighing in at 5 lbs, 13 oz. - - This weight is considered to be a little bit on the big size - and what the Dr. would have expected to see about 2 weeks from now.
- I begged the Dr. to please not let me have anything bigger than 8lbs 4 oz (this is what Dylan weighed). As of now, there is no plan to change the due date, but we will be watching the babies weight moving forward.

All else is going good. My biggest complaint is that the baby is resting heavily on my bladder. He is head-down and will most likely remain in that position until I deliver.

Today was the first day that I could not wear my wedding ring. While my feet have been swollen since early July, my fingers are now porky, too. It's definitely weird not to have my ring on.

The countdown has begun. The end is near. Please let it come fast!!

Baby Norton's Room

2008-07-03T14:54:00.000-07:00

Well, one more room in this house is complete. 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms and a kitchen to go - but who's counting?

Baby Norton has a dog-themed room. - - No this does not mean run out and buy a bunch of dog things. Seriously. Parker is enough inspiration around here when it comes to dogs. :)

Our good friend and Realtor recommended a great painter to come in and design the room for us. She did a great job. One wall is turquoise and has the dog painted on it with polk-a-dots all over the wall. The other three walls are blue with a cloud-like texture. On each of the walls there are dog sayings like "fetch", "wiggle", "sniff" and "woof". There are also dog footprints around window and door areas. We are very pleased. The room turned out great!

With only a couple months to go, this is one less thing that we have to worry about pulling together in preparation for the arrival of Baby Norton.

Best of the West Series - Dirt Diggers MC - Starwest

2008-06-29T16:01:00.000-07:00

As part of Dylan's participation in the Best of the West series, he raced one of 3 motocross events yesterday. It was a very long day for us.

Dylan wanted time to practice on the Starwest track before the race. The track had open riding from 9a-2p. To assure that we would be to the track by 9a, we left our house just after 7a. Jeff's friend Chris Porrett met us at the track to get some riding in with Dylan.

The day was a hot one! I recall it getting up to 106 degrees. The boys could only ride about 15 minutes at a time and would return to "camp" drenched in sweat. Luckily we had the motorhome to escape to. It was nice having air conditioning on such a hot day.

Sign-ups began around 2p but Dylan's race didn't start until 8p. By this time, the temperature had dropped into the low 80s and we had the benefit of a nice breeze.

Dylan took the overall win in his class. He was awesome! He made riding the track look so easy. Finally it seems that his time with Marty Smith in motocross camp the last couple of years paid off.

While the motorhome was nice to retreat to during the day, it was a bit of a disadvantage when we wanted to leave. Unfortunately we had to wait for some cars around us to leave before we could move - so we stayed until 11p - and made it home just after midnight.

It was a really long day - but definitely worth it to see Dylan ride so well!! I'll never forget the grin he had when he finished the race. He was smiling ear to ear. It's these moments that remind us why we love being a part of his hobby.