Trying to catch up

Well, in an attempt to catch up on posting from the last four months, I've added three new posts below highlighting the events from August, September and October month. Pictures for each and a post for November will hopefully be coming soon. I'm going to try to be better about updating much more frequently.

October

October was a very fun month for us! We started off with Colin's birthday. Colin just loves The Count from Sesame Street so we headed up to Philly to celbrate his birthday at Sesame Place. Sesame Place was having a special Halloween event - The Count's Halloween Spooktacular with tons of fun shows and trick-or-treating in the park. The weather wasn't great (are you seeing a trend here?) but we made it a great day regardless. The park was not very crowded so we got to meet tons of the characters. Colin and Keira just went crazy when they saw The Count. Ryan even got to be part of the Elmo's World Live show. Colin definitely had a terrific birthday!
The next day, we had a birthday celebration with Grammy, PopPop, Aunt Meghan, Aunt Erica, Uncle Dan, Cloe, Mara, Jenna, Ella, Aiden, Uncle Matt, Aunt Christine, Caroline and Patrick.
Colin had his two year old check-up:

September

September proved to be a very busy month. As soon as we got back from Philly, Keira and I had to visit a new preschool for her. The teacher (Mrs. Nalls) that she was supposed to have at the old preschool quit and everyone in the class was heading to different schools this year. We were very fortunate and completely blessed to get a spot of the waiting list at Fairfax Presbyterian Preschool in Mrs Nalls' class! We were thrilled that Keira's best friend Mia also got into the same class.
Before Keira started school, we took a trip to Indiana to for Popcorn Festival and introduce Ryan to Blair's family. The trip timed nicely with the Cubs vs Pirates game in Pittsburgh so we decided to break the drive up with a few day stop in Pittsburgh. Again, the weather didn't coorporate for us to get to the water park but we had alot of fun at the National Avery, the Carnegie Mellon Science Center and the Pittsburgh Zoo. We ended with taking Ryan to his first baseball game. Unfortunately when we came home from the game, I started feeling lousy and only got worse for the next two days. Blair was a trooper loading up the car by himself and doing all of the driving.
We didn't end up making it to Popcorn Festival but Keira and Colin had tons of fun playing with cousins Kaylee and Drew. Ryan got to meet Aunt Julie, Uncle George, Aunt Mary, Uncle Randy, Aunt Jane, and Uncle Paul. We all got to enjoy a nice dinner together. That Sunday, we enjoyed a special breakfast with Grandma and Grandpa for Grandparents' Day before starting the drive back home. We stayed outside of Cleveland for the night and finish the drive the next day. All in all,
both Maddux and Ryan did excellent on the long car ride and their first stays in a hotel.
As soon as we got home, it was time to unpack and get to bed so Keira was ready to start school the next morning. Keira had a little tough time saying goodbye to me at school (she was crying and had to be pulled off of me by the teacher and another parent) but had calmed down within a few minutes after I left. Keira loves school so much now that I barely get a goodbye before she darts into her classroom!
The rest of the month was not crazy with travel but very hectic as I started back at work part-time and frantically tried to accomplish a few things before I started back full-time at the end of the month.

August

Well, August proved to be a crazy month. Ryan got released from the hospital on the 7th. Blair had one week left of his leave so we frantically tried to enjoy the time while accomplishing a few projects around the house (I think all that got done was Blair cleaning out the garage). Blair went back to work in the middle of August and I took the kids up to Philly so Ryan could meet a good number of relatives (AuntErica, Uncle Dan, Cloe, Mara, Jenna, Ella, Aiden, Uncle Matt, Aunt Christine, Caroline, Patrick, Aunt Eileene, Aunt Cass, Uncle Rick, and Brian as well as Terry and Mary Ann) and I could get some more help/pampering from my parents and sister Meghan. Ryan was an angel on the car ride sleeping the entire trip! A week and a half flew by as we had fun just hanging out and visiting family.
Blair joined us in Philly the following weekend. Our plans for a fun family day at Sesame Place got rained out but we ended up having a fantastic time at the circus. The month and our trip to Philly ended with a carnival-themed birthday party for Cloe and PopPop.

A Big Illness for a Little Man

After wonderful visits with Grammy and PopPop and Grandma and Grandpa,we started trying to get used to being a family of five. In general, we were adjust prety well (aside from a real mess at mass) and I had even commented how going from one to two was much hard than going from two to three. Part of this, I attributed to the fact that Ryan is such a sweet, easy, laid-back baby. Sunday afternoon we were to face our first real test - Blair was off to Cincinnati for a court case and I was nervously left with three kids and a puppy. I anticipated some chaos while Blair was gone but in no way, did I ever anticipate what would happen next. Sunday afternoon, a good college friend of mine came to visit. During her visit, I noticed that Keira was running a fever and gave her some Tylenol. Her fever went down and she was back to her usual self. I surprised myself at how well I managed to get everyone to bed. Ar midnight, Ryan woke up for his first nighttime feeding. When I got him out of his bed, I noticed that he was pretty warm. I swaddle him up at night and thought that he was mostlikely hot from being wrapped up but luckily, I stripped him down and took his temperature - 102.3. The peditricians tell you to call for fevers over 100.4 at Ryan's age so I can them right away. The response from the pediatrician was one of great concern and he told me to take Ryan to the emergency room at the hospital where he was born (best qualified hospital for his age). I called Carmen, our nanny, at 12:45 am and she was an angel racing over to our house to stay with Keira and Colin.
Luckily, the emergency room wasn't too crowded and we go seen almost right away. The nurse had me strip Ryan and put him in an infant hospital gown. It was so sad seeing this tiny baby in a minuature hospital gown on a huge hospital bed. The doctors told me that they needed to run a full "septic work-up" on Ryan - consisting of blood work, urine tests, and a spinal tap. It was truly heartbreaking to watch Ryan suffer through being poked and proded. About an hour after the tests were completed, the doctor came in to inform me that Ryan's spinal tab tested positive for meningitis. He called our pediatrician and we were admitted to the hospital for at least 48 hours while we waited to blood and urine cultures to determine if it was viral or bacterial meningitis. As Ryan and I got settled into his room, we were informed that we were being put "in isolation" and unable to leave the room. All hospital staff entering the room wore masks, disposable gowns and gloves - it was like a television show and added extra fear to the situation. The hospital staff and our pediatricians have been fantastic at helping to ease these fears. Test results started coming in a pointing towards viral meningitis (great news!). Ryan tested positive for enterovirus which explains the meningtitis. Most likely, he picked up the virus from someone else in the family.
This afternoon, the final test results came in and we were able to rule out bacterial meningtis. The viral meningitis now just needs to run its course. Our pediatricians consulted with the pediatric infectious disease specialist and we were informed that we need to remain in the hospital until Ryan has gone 48 hours without a fever (he continues to struggle to break the fever). This is just precautionary for the risk of him having a seizure. Luckily, we can at least stop the IV antibiotics. Now, we just wait and hold our breathe every three hours when the nurse comes to take Ryan's tempature. I really hope that we can be home by the weekend.
As for the rest of the family, everyone is holding up as well as can be expected. My parents dropped everything and came down early Monday to help with Keira and Colin. While I know that Keira and Colin miss Ryan and I, they are having a great time with Grammy and PopPop (which means one less worry for me!). Blair was able to move up his flight from Tuesday morning to Monday night and has been terrific at juggling helping Keira and Colin at home while coming into the hospital for a few hours a day so I can shower and try ot get some rest. The night in the ER really goofed up Ryan's sense of day and night so he has been up most night and sleeping during the day. The first few days, he only seemed to be comforted if I was holding him so I've been going on little to no sleep. Luckily, Ryan seems to be improving, is less fussy, and getting better at sleeping in his little crib so hopefully, I'll manage some sleep between temperature checks.
I'll try to update as we get more information and to keep eeryone up to date on Ryan's situation. Thanks so much for all of your prayers!

Welcome Ryan Patrick!

It was with great joy that we welcomed Ryan Patrick on July 16th at 12:26 am. Labor actually started at 2 am on the 15th when I was awakened by contractions. The contractions were strong enough to keep me awake and causing back pains that I knew this was actual labor. I watched the clock for the rest of the night trying to hold on long enough so that we could call the nanny at a respectible hour to come watch Keira and Colin. The contractions never got any worse (although they didn't get better either!) so when our nanny arrived at 7 am, I asked Blair to stay home from work. As I got up and was busy with the kids, the contractions seemed to slow down to 10 to 15 minutes apart. Blair and I took Maddux for a long walk to try to help things along. It wasn't until about 6:30 pm that things really picked up again. At 7:30, I called my doctor and he told me that I could come in. I was feeling nervous that I was going to the hospital too early after talking to the doctor (with Keira and Colin we went in and got sent home once). Five minutes later, my water broke and we knew there was no turning back. The contractions came fast and strong. We got to the hospital around 9 pm. The hospital wasn't that busy but everything seemed to take forever (the staff called the wrong doctor and then my doctor got stuck in traffic - at 10:30 pm - that's DC for you!). I was so anxious to get an epidural to get comfortable, not to mention that Blair and I were both watching the clock hoping to drag this out long enough to make it to our due date (as Keira and Colin both beat the odds and came on their due dates). Finally, I got an epidural and my doctor got there. At 11:15 I was able to start pushing. The nurse who was with us kept saying that I would go fast, especially given this was my third delivery. Well, no lbaor is uneventful for us and Ryan proved to be the scariest of the three. Our doctor came in after about an hour of pushing and I immediately read the panic on his face. This was the same doctor that delivered Colin and despite the cord around Colin's neck, I'd never seem the panic before. With Ryan, he wasn't handling the pushing well and his head wasn't dropping. He, like Keira and Colin, was "sunny-side up". The doctor started preparing us for a c-section but said he wanted to try once with foreceps. I was so scared that I just focused on Blair. When the doctor told me to push, I pushed. I felt a big flip in my stomach and Ryan's head was out. Apparently, the doctor changed his plan and actually turned Ryan while I pushed. Ryan did a 360 degree flip on his way out. What an entrance!!! (and what a relief!).
Well, Blair and I were both shocked to discover we had a healthy boy! As both Ryan and I needed to be tended to, I didn't get to see him for the first twenty minutes or so. Blair and I never settled on a boy's name so I kept having Blair show me pictures on the camera and asking Blair what name he thought fit him. Blair picked Ryan (one of our leading contenders) and it is absolutely perfect! (Keira kepts calling him Brian but she is working on it.) The hospital again moved very slow and it was almost 3:30 am by the time we got to the post-delivery room. Blair was so exhausted that he slept a few hours on the pull-out chair before heading home to share the pictures with Keira and Colin. Keira, who had shown a preference for a little sister, couldn't be more excited about her baby brother. Later that day, Blair, the kids and my parents (with hoagies from Philly as is our labor tradition) came to the hospital to have a picnic dinner with Ryan and I. Keira was nervous at first around Ryan while Colin just kept saying "baby" and wanting to hold Ryan. I don't know what was a bigger hit with them - Ryan or the buttons on the hospital bed.
Well, the next day was a long wait (again) to get discharged from the hospital. We finally got release and little Ryan made his first trip through the McDonald's drive-thru on the way home. Maddux was distracted by the food and initially showed little interest in Ryan. Since then, Maddux has done really well with Ryan and only gets very excited when someone new comes and holds Ryan. Maddux is already proving to be a very protective dog. Keira has been a terrific helper and loves to hold her brother and bring him toys. She is scared of his umbilical cord so until that falls off, she doesn't want to see him naked or help with diaper changes. Colin has adjusted better than we could have imagined - he just keeps wanting to kiss Ryan and has been very gentle with him. Ryan continues to be a very laid-back baby and sleeps most of the day. He is a hungry little guy and likes to eat every 1.5 - 2 hrs. At night, he eats and goes back to sleep very easily so hopefully this continues. He just hates being naked and will scream during diaper changes or while getting dressed. All in all, we are adjusting very well.

Grandparents Galore!

Sorry for the lack of post recently! We've been pretty busy as we have been blessed to have visits from both sets of grandparents. First, Grammy and PopPop visited us for Memorial Day weekend. It was a fun weekend, highlighted by a trip to the local zoo where the camel on the safari ride tried to eat Grammy's hair.



The following week was Keira's last week of school and ended with a family picnic. Despite the heat, we all had a great time. Keira sadly realized that the school year was ending and after assuring her that she could have playdates with her friends over the summer, she asked if her teacher, Ms. King, could also come over our house. Keira really loves school!
Next, Grandma and Grandpa come to visit for a few days. The kids had tons of fun with them - lunch downtown with Blair and playing at the National Building Museum, a trip to the movies for Keira, Blair, Grandma, and Grandpa, a night at the baseball game, a day at a Strawberry Festival, and a birthday celebration for Grandpa were some of the highlights.


Unfortunately, Colin took a tumble down the stairs when he was trying to turn around on one of the steps. After the initial shock wore off, we noticed over the next few days that he was refraining from using his right arm alot, so we took him to be x-rayed, and they found a break above his right wrist. We were referred to a pediatric orthopedist who put a cast on Colin's arm, from his fingers to his shoulder. Luckily, given his age, he will heal quickly and can get the cast off in three weeks. Colin is adjusting to his cast but still struggles sleeping at night. Keira was so very worried about Colin and insisted on going to his doctors’ appointments. Even Maddux seemed to sense Colin’s injury as the first day with his cast on, Maddux patiently waited for Colin to feed him one nugget at a time (as opposed to his normal mood of devouring his food very quickly).


As for Maddux, he continues to grow – up to 27 lbs now. He is a good puppy but we need to remind ourselves that he is a puppy and as such, he is very nippy and often destructive (I am currently down three pairs of shoes!). Last week, Maddux was allowed to start sleeping in our room, rather than his crate in the basement and he has been doing really well.

The Continuous Party

It is hard to believe that we started celebrating Keira’s birthday almost a month ago and have just now wrapped up with her birthday party with friends. We started out celebrating Keira’s actual birthday in Philadelphia with Grammy, PopPop, and Aunt Meghan. Keira woke up on her birthday and stood up in bed asking me how much she grew over night (it was so cute – she thought that by turning a year old that she would have physical grown as well). The morning started with opening gifts from Colin, Blair and I. The biggest hit was a play makeup set from Colin which I thought was just pretend but after Keira beautifully decorated her entire face, I quickly realized that was not the case (Note the makeup in the picture). Grammy then made a delicious “birthday pancake” breakfast for us – pancakes with Cool Whip and sprinkles. The afternoon was spent at the movies with Blair, PopPop, Uncle Matt and Caroline. Finally a fun dinner out with Grammy, PopPop, Aunt Meghan, Colin, Blair and I followed back at Grammy’s with a wonderful cake that Grammy made. Exhausted, we all crashed hoping to get some rest for Easter the next day.

Easter proved to be a test of how much sugar Colin could handle before crashing. Upon waking up, Keira and Colin immediately took stock of their Easter baskets. Luckily, the Easter Bunny brought each child a new toy instead of too much candy. Colin’s little hands quickly master unwrapping candy and the smart little guy focused on Blair’s Easter basket. Keira easily found the most Easter eggs on our egg hunt as Colin would stop to open and eat the contents of each egg. Mass went better than expected as Aunt Meghan managed Colin’s sugar crash and got him to take a short nap. Uncle Matt, Aunt Christine, Caroline and Patrick came over for a delicious Easter dinner and another egg hunt. My attempt at a nice Easter photo was ruined by Keira insisting on changing into a baseball outfit that we gave her for Easter and Colin needing to change into a clean outfit after getting chocolate all over his first outfit.

The next week went by quick as we prepared for and picked up Maddux (see earlier post). We also went to our first baseball game of the season.


After only a few days getting settled into our house, Maddux journeyed with us to Philly for a fun weekend that included a birthday party for Keira and Mara and Cloe’s First Communion. Maddux was an angel on the car ride and adjusted very well to being at a new location. Keira had a great time celebrating her birthday with a number of her cousins. Cloe’s First Communion went very well (from what we saw while trying to handle two kids who were very restless due to the heat in the gym). Cloe looked beautiful!!!

We finally concluded Keira’s “birthday season” with a party with her little friends this past Saturday. A lot of planning and effort went into preparing for the party (Thanks Grammy for sewing so many wonderful mermaid tails for all the girls!). We were smart and held the party in the party room of a local community center. All in all, I think Keira had a terrific time but 18 kids ranging in age from 4 months to 11 years old was more chaos that I could ever have imagined. Next year we will be opting to go somewhere with a birthday party package and letting someone else run the party.

The last few weeks have all left us exhausted. I’m just hoping Blair doesn’t expect such a fuss when he turns forty later this year!

Maddux is home!!!!

The long wait is over! On Saturday, we had about an hour car ride to the breeders to pick up Maddux. When we got there, Maddux and one of his brothers was in a fenced in area outside waiting for us. As soon as we saw him, all doubts and nervousness were gone - we were all in love with the little guy. Maddux instantly took to Keira and whimpered everytime she walked away from the cage. We had Maddux ride home in a crate next to Keira's carseat and with constant attention from Keira, Maddux did excellent on the ride home.

The weather was perfect on Saturday so we all got to enjoy some time playing outside before Keira, Colin, and Maddux took much needed naps. Keira was so thrilled to get to run and play with Maddux. Colin, on the other hand, showed almost no interest and just wanted to pick flowers.

Maddux has already gotten free-range of the house and has generally been very good. He hasn't figured out how to go up stairs yet but Keira has graciously accommodated him by carrying him everywhere. Aside from one incident of eating part of a crayon and a few expected accidents, Maddux has been terrific. The first night was a little rough probably due to the fact that Maddux went to bed early after being completely worn out. He was up early the next morning (5 am) so I took him down stairs to play some. Maddux loves to be right at your feet so we had good play time but I wasn't able to get anything productive done. I finally woke Keira up to come play with Maddux (she eagerly agreed!). Since then, we have gotten the nights better and Blair normally only has to take Maddux out once in the middle of the night.

All in all, we are adjusting very well and couldn't be happier with Maddux. I am constantly amazed at how tolerant Maddux is of Colin stepping on him and pulling his hair and how willing he is to let Keira carry him around all over the place. While many people have considered it crazy that we get a puppy now, I firmly believe that we made the right decision. Maddux has already brought so much joy into our home.

Anxiously awaiting our newest family member

I promise a much longer post with details and photos from Keira's birthday and Easter but thought I would make a quick post now.
Only a few more days now until we go pick up Maddux - our new puppy. I think everyone in the family is really getting excited. After a trip to the pet store the other night to get supplies, I think it is starting to hit us (or at least me) the huge change we are in for. We know it will be a lot of work but definitely worth it. Just look at the cute little guy!

Welcome!

Welcome family to our new blog page. We hope to use this as a way of keeping everyone up to date of the day to day activities in our growing family!