Christmas Day

Christmas day was a bit more hectic, but just as wonderful!
Mommy and Patrick woke up early and spent some time hanging out with Grandpa and Grammy while we waited for Daddy to get up:

Smiley guys

Ok, Grammy - they're making me wear this hat. What's your excuse?

Once we woke Daddy up, it was time to open presents. Patrick had a mountain of presents, and since Daddy wanted to let Patrick open all his own presents, it took us a long time to get through everything. Patrick didn't quite get what was going on, but liked sitting on the floor with daddy and the doggie Seamus ripping paper and playing with new toys. Ryan and I also got some really great things, it was a very fun morning!

 Daddy was very patient helping Patrick open his presents,

but all Patrick really wanted was to eat the paper.

Nice bow, kid!

 

 Watching Daddy open presents

 Opening the BIG present

 

I love this picture - it looks like my sweet angel is making an obscene gesture and saying "@#$% you, I wanted a REAL pony!"

After the presents were open, we had a big, delicious Christmas breakfast featuring biscuits and gravy for Ryan.

All I wanted for Christmas was my two front teeth, but since they're still coming in, I'll keep chewing spoons!

After breakfast, we had a little time to cuddle and play before getting ready to go to Great Grandma Morge's house.

A cuddle with Grammy

Climbing on mommy

 

Patrick is ready to go to Great Grandma's house, Grammy Dorothy gets in another cuddle!

We packed up the car, which barely had room for us once the gifts were in, and headed to Aurora for the Morge Christmas, Part II. Great Grandma's house at Christmas is always hectic, with tons of people and presents, noise and laughter. It usually causes the 'only child' in me to get overwhelmed, but is Ryan's very favorite part of Christmas, and I must admit that I don't think Christmas would be the same without it! If we could bottle and sell the love and cheer in that room at Christmas time, we'd be millionaires!   

Papa helps Patrick open his present from Great Grandma while Lucy makes a face.

 

Patrick with Grandma Trish and cousin Gabriella

Gift time at Great Grandma's house!

We had a wonderful time at Great Grandma's, enjoyed a delicious meal and spent time with some family members that we aren't lucky enough to get to see very often.

After Great Grandma's house, we packed ourselves back in the car (much more difficult this time!) and headed home. The roads were snowy, but my fearless hubby reported that they weren't as bad as they looked. Just a few short hours later, we were back home in our own beds ready for the much needed "do nothing" day we had planned for Saturday!

Christmas Eve

Christmas eve was a wonderfully low-key day. In the morning, Ryan dropped the dogs off at the boarding place, then we packed the car in the pouring rain. We traveled to Meghan's Mom and Dad's and went to Christmas Eve mass with them. While there, we got to see Meghan's cousin John who lives in Atlanta, as well as her cousin Katie and Katie's husband Jamie, who currently reside in Ireland. Needless to say, we don't get to see them very often, and we were thrilled to see them even for a few minutes. Patrick LOVED getting cuddled by Katie - if only we had gotten a few pictures!

After church, we returned to Mom and Dad's for a wonderful dinner. Patrick got to open a few gifts from his Great Aunts and Uncles and played with them while we ate - such a great kid! Then we curled up and watched a movie, before heading to bed with visions of sugarplums dancing in our heads.

Morge Christmas, Part I

On Sunday the 20th, we had Christmas with the Morge family. We headed to the Peoria house and joined the Mom, Papa, the Wilsons and the Decatur Morges for a wonderful dinner and gifts. After dinner we had a very special treat - on one day during the holiday season, the neighborhood in which Mom, Dad, and the Wilsons live has a holiday celebration. Most of the neighbors participate in putting out luminaries along the street, which is just beautiful. They also have a horse drawn carriage that takes people for rides. After dinner, we all got to take a ride in the carriage. The quiet of the snow, clip-clop of the horse hoofs, and jingle of the bells combined with the beauty of the snow and the glow of the luminaries for a perfect Christmas-y scene that really set the mood for the week ahead.

Almost asleep - the walk to the carriage ride knocked him out and he slept through the whole ride!

 

In the carriage with Daddy, Aunt Mia, cousins Madison and Michael Aaron, and Uncle Mike.

 

The carriage

 

Hello, Mr. Horse!

Visiting Santa

On the Saturday before Christmas, we decided that we'd better hurry and go see Santa so that Patrick could tell him what he wanted for Christmas. I was afraid that Patrick would freak out, as he is very hit and miss with strangers right now. However, after just a few seconds of examining him, he must've decided that the old guy was ok, and went right to him.

Visiting Santa is hard work! I'm exhausted!

My least favorite ‘baby’s first’

NOTE: The following blog entry contains images that have been known to make grandmas cry.

Let's start this one by explaining that Patrick and I had both been sick with what seemed like a never-ending cold. On Friday the 11th, I was finally tired of feeling awful and took my lunch hour to head to the prompt care. While there, I was diagnosed with a sinus and throat infection and sent away with a prescription.

Knowing that I had more than just a cold, I became more concerned that Patrick wasn’t improving. I called the pediatrician and was told that unless Patrick started refusing food or started wheezing, not to worry. Naturally, later that evening, Patrick started wheezing. Not good. I then checked his daycare sheet and noticed that he had hardly eaten all day. When he continued to refuse his bottle, we decided it was better to be safe than sorry and headed to the prompt care.

At prompt care the nurse started taking Patrick’s vitals. Naturally, getting an o2 reading on an infant is difficult, and they were using an adult sized meter, so she wasn’t too surprised when the reading was very low. They took us back to the examining room, she headed off to find an infant sized finger thingy (medical term) and grabbed another nurse to help her. He came in and assisted, but no matter what they did, they kept getting what would be considered extremely low readings.

Next thing we know, we have the doctor in the room. Although Patrick’s lungs sounded clear, there was apparently some retraction on one side, which concerned the doctor enough to grab the nebulizer. Patrick was NOT a fan.

GET THIS THING OFF OF ME!

However, while he screamed his o2 level went up to 100% (where it should be!) which let them know that the low readings they were getting were accurate. The doc informed us that in children Patrick’s age, a reading lower than 96% (which he was well below) is an automatic trip to the ER with oxygen en route. The next thing we know, Patrick and I are riding in the back of an ambulance with Daddy is following close behind in the car.

Getting into the ambulance. (The female EMT had a crush on Patrick. The feeling was mutual!)

The nice EMT gave him medical supplies to play with.

Thus began a few maddening hours of mostly waiting. Patrick had some blood drawn and an RSV test, a number of breathing treatments and also had a chest x-ray. He was also given some medicine that his little tummy couldn't tolerate - the poor little dude vomited the nasty smelling stuff right down the front of mommy's shirt.

(Side note – perhaps this makes me a terrible mother, but seeing a 6-month old get a chest x-ray ranks among the funniest things I’ve ever seen. The put my poor son on a little saddle-like thing, lifted his arms, and secured clear plastic braces around him. Ryan figured out right away what it looked like – he looked as if he was trapped in a 2-liter bottle of soda.)

Mostly though, we waited.

Waiting...the meter on his toe lasted until he figured he could get it off by wiggling his toes

When this rough, exhausting, worrisome night was over, all we knew was that his lungs were clear, he was RSV free, flu free, and pretty darn patient!! We left with a couple of prescriptions to help with the breathing, orders to follow up with the pediatrician, and a really cool stuffed pterodactyl that one of the nurses gave him after he had his blood drawn. (Ryan has nicknamed it Pterry, but his full legal name is “The Most Expensive Stuffed Animal We’ve Ever Purchased”)

I have to pause here to give the EMTs a huge Thank You! They were so wonderful with Patrick - and with his very nervous mother - that they made what could have been a terrifying ride in an ambulance an amusing memory (even stopping to pose for a photo, as you can see!). They were so reassuring and kind, and even stopped by hours later as they dropped someone else off to check on our little guy. Such nice people!

The rest of the weekend was significantly more pleasant. Saturday, Grandma Trish came over to babysit Patrick while Papa, Ryan and I moved stuff out of the old house. Then on Sunday, we joined Grandma Trish and Papa, Elizabeth, Annabelle, Mike, Michael Aaron and Madison and headed to Chili’s for another (and final [for this year]) birthday celebration. Since we were missing the birthday hat, we all donned Christmas hats instead, even Patrick!

Aren't we a handsome group?

With all that over, we are free to get on with Christmas, right? I promise, next post will be illness free!!!

Meghan's 30th Birthday

The weekend of the 5th we began a long celebration of my 30th birthday. On Saturday, my Mom and Dad came down for the afternoon and for a yummy dinner at Alexander’s.

On Sunday, Ryan hosted a party for me, with friends coming over to hang out, watch some football, eat, and play a little Beatles Rock Band. It was a perfect day, casual and relaxed, and Ryan did pretty much all the work! I didn’t get a lot of pictures, but I did get a cute one of Patrick and his friend Henry:

Tuesday, my actual birthday, was a wonderful and strange day. First thing, Ryan got up and made me a hot breakfast croissant sandwich – yum! I headed to work, looking forward to a relaxing birthday dinner with my boys. I was very excited because after years of worry, Ryan finally had a doctor’s appointment to discuss his sleep/snoring issue and it happened to fall on my birthday. What a gift! I was thrilled when Ryan called after his appointment to tell me that the doctor referred him for and scheduled a sleep study in January. Hooray!

Anxious to get the issue under control, Ryan called the sleep center to see if he could get in sooner (say, this insurance year!) They confirmed that his appointment was the soonest available, but they would gladly add him to the long cancellation waiting list and would call if an appointment opened up.

A few short hours later, Ryan and I were back on the phone – the sleep clinic called and had a last-minute cancellation. Ryan was the first person to answer and was offered the spot for that night. After making sure that I wouldn’t be upset (not an unreasonable concern!) he accepted the spot.

So, the home cooked dinner and a relaxing evening with my hubby was replaced by a super quick celebration – which Ryan still made incredibly special. I received a bouquet of 30 gorgeous roses, a couple of wonderful gifts, and a cards from both Ryan and Patrick (Patrick signed his himself!) We ate a quick dinner of pretzel dogs before Ryan was headed to the hospital. I wasn’t thrilled to be spending my actual 30th birthday alone, but I had trying to get him in for a sleep study for years. It was bittersweet that it finally all came together on my birthday.

The best part? The sleep study quickly concluded what we had all suspected, that Ryan has severe sleep apnea. He will be receiving a CPAP machine to use in the near future. As soon as he does, I’ll post a picture! What a birthday gift!!

But wait, there’s more! Thursday night at our usual Guadalajara after bowling dinner, I got the whole sombrero on the head, whipped cream on the face treatment. (I’m sure there are pics of that somewhere, but I’m pleased to say I don’t have any.)

We’re not done with the birthday celebration quite yet, but there were a couple of things that happened in before the final celebration. In the interest of chronological accuracy, I’m going to skip that last one for now.

6 months

Instead of a traditional list of accomplishments, in honor of this milestone birthday, we’re going to change things up a bit.

My beautiful son,

Happy 6 month birthday! I can hardly believe that I’ve been able to hold you in my arms for 6 months now. Your daddy and I love you so much more than you could ever imagine. You are such a handsome little dude, with fantastic hair that stikkumups in all different directions and seems to be a different color every day. Your beautiful eyes are darkening, but still have the most gorgeous blue in the center; they look very much like your daddy’s eyes. Your smile is infectious, and you are so generous with it. Everyone says you’re the happiest little dude, and they’re right. You love to laugh, and your big laugh is a hilarious guffaw-squeak noise. I can’t help but laugh every time you laugh.

You are a champion sitter and desperately want to figure out how to crawl. You lean forward and pound your fist on the floor as if to say “c’mon floor, help me out here!” When you get on your tummy, you scoot backwards, in what daddy and I call ‘lobstering.’ You’ll be moving forward in no time, little man.

You are a little daredevil! You love diving forward on to your face when you’re hanging out in mommy and daddy’s bed, and love being tossed into the air. It’s only a matter of time before you’re hanging from the ceiling fan! (Kidding!)

You are the best sleeper ever – an 11 hour night is pretty standard for you. You usually go to bed without a fight and most nights sleep straight through. Every once in a while you get into a few day phase of waking up around 4, but we can’t complain.

You love your cereal, although sometimes you love the reaction you get for spitting it back at us more.

I can’t begin to imagine what the next few months are going to be like, but I know that they’ll be an adventure. We’re so blessed to have you in our lives. We love you, pnut!

P.S. Dr. Sanjay says you’re growing like a champ! You’re up to 18 lb 3 oz and 26.5 in!

Look at those rolls!!

Hanging out with your brothers

Cap'n Cruddy Eye and the Busy, Busy Weekend

Once Thanksgiving was over, we were FAR from done with our weekend. Friday morning, Grammy Dorothy, Patrick and I headed north for my dear friend Mara's wedding festivities while Ryan and Grandpa Phil stayed behind to work on the old house. Patrick was sniffley and had a little bit of a 'booger eye' thing happening, but we didn't worry too much. We headed straight to Mara's rehearsal and then to Grammy and Grandpa's to get Patrick settled in. Friday night, I headed back down to Rolling Meadows for the rehearsal dinner, while Patrick stayed with Grammy.

Saturday morning, I headed to Addison to get ready for the wedding with the other bridesmaids and Mara while a boogery Patrick stayed with Grammy. His eyes were a little more boogered, but again nothing too bad, and his cough seemed to be subsiding. Fast forward a few hours - the wedding is over, the pictures are being taken, and of course, my phone is being stored away with all the bridesmaid stuff. Unfortunately, this meant I missed my poor mother calling to tell me that Patrick had a fever. When I finally heard the message, I felt awful for not only leaving a sick baby home, but for not being there when mom called. I was a mess with worry. With no infant tylenol in the house, and no car mom was willing to put a car seat in, we were in a bit of a pickle (i love that saying!) until Super Aunt Pat swooped in to save the day with a trip to the store. Thanks again, Aunt Pat! Love you! With all under control, I was able to relax again and enjoy a bit of the reception. Congrats again, Mara and Adam!

Think the weekend was over? Oh, no.

Sunday morning, Grammy Dorothy, Patrick, and I packed up early and headed back to Clinton so P & I could get Ryan and head to Peoria. Unfortunately, at this point, Patrick's eyes were a goopy, globby, nasty mess. Ryan and I decided to make a quick stop at a Prompt Care on our way to P-town. During the 5.6 seconds the doctor spent in the room, he diagnosed Patrick with conjunctivitis (aka pinkeye). He gave us a gel to put in Patrick's eyes 4 times a day for the next week. Patrick loves them. [Dear reader, please sense dripping sarcasm when you read the previous sentence. Thank you.] We then made our way to have dinner with Grandma Triiish & Papa, Uncle Don, the Wilsons, the California Morges and the Decatur Morges. Once dinner was over, Ryan piled his exhausted wife and sick baby back in the car for the trip back home. Thanks to the pinkeye, Patrick couldn't return to daycare on Monday, so Mommy stayed home with him. (And then ended up home sick on Tuesday)

Although I didn't get a lot of pictures over the weekend, I did manage to get a couple of shots of Patrick's goopy eyes for posterity:

Cap'n Crusty Eye borrowed Grandma's spoon for teething

Don't I look AWESOME?

Don't worry folks, I didn't forget that Patrick turned 6 months old on Tuesday, but with battling a nasty cold as well as now my own case of pinkeye, I haven't felt up to posting. We head to see Dr. Sanjay today and I'll do a 6 month post complete with stats in the next day or so.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Ryan and I have never suffered for lack of blessings, but this year in particular we have so much for which we are thankful. A beautiful son, an amazing new house, a generous and loving family, and tremendous friends are just a few we can name. Happy Thanksgiving indeed!!

This year, Ryan and I hosted Thanksgiving at our house. Although I was very nervous and admittedly downright pessimistic about our ability to "do" Thanksgiving, almost everything turned out great. Ryan made two fantastic turkeys (one roasted, one deep fried) and we had quite a spread of food. Making things even better was having Ryan's parents, all of Ryan's siblings and their families (minus one nephew - we missed you Matt!), as well as my Mom and Dad over. It was the most beautiful chaos I have ever seen!! I would go on, but I'm so exhausted that instead I'll just post some pictures.

Patrick helping Daddy and Mommy make stuffing!

Prettiest darn turkey!!

The full spread: Roast turkey, deep fried turkey, mashed potatoes, fried apples, stuffing, cranberry sauce, yifta, creamed onions, gravy, rolls, salad.

Naptime on Grandma Trish with Cousin Lillian.

Hanging out with Aunt Liz

Grandma Trish and Papa Mike with all but one of the grandkids (plus Liz and Kevin)

Patrick says "Papa Mike gave me some pumpkin pie crust and I LOVED it!"

Patrick with Grammy Dorothy and Grandpa Phil

The aftermath: Head Chef Ryan conked out with Guinness in hand.

Mommy and Patrick are pooped too!

Thanks so much to everyone who helped make our first Thanksgiving in our house a success! It was so much fun for us to host - hope everyone had a great time!

First Cereal

After weeks of hesitation on Mommy's part, Patrick got to try cereal for the first time last night (and Mommy didn't even cry!!) He wasn't quite sure about it - more ended up on him than in him, but it was a good first attempt. It was an adventure trying to get the spoon past "the gates" - as soon as the spoon got close, Patrick would swoop his arms in and try to grab it. And when he was done, he was DONE. Mouth wouldn't open, started crying, etc. Eh, we'll keep trying! Here are a few pics:

Yummmmmmmmmm!

Ummmm, not so sure about this.

Quick, the gates are closing!!!

Happy little cereal eater!

Looking like a fighter pilot with all those straps!

5 months old

Little dude is 5 months old! Patrick turned 5 months on Sunday - I cannot believe how fast time flies! The last month has been such a fun one, it is amazing how much of a little person he’s becoming! Patrick:

• Is a very chatty monkey. Although we know better, sometimes we’d swear he says “Hi” when you say it to him.


• LOVES animals. Daddy taught him to pet the cats, and he is very sweet to them. They are very tolerant of him. He is getting to know the doggies better too, and tolerates his foot cleanings from Guinness pretty well.


• Still hates baths. We tried showers too, but he doesn’t like those any better. Boys!


• Successfully switched to the medium flow nipples and can chug down 6 oz of bottled breast milk at a time.


• Is VERY interested in what Mommy and Daddy are eating. Looks like we’re going to be trying cereal soon!


• Started rolling and can roll from tummy to back like a champ. He will roll the other way once in a while, but much less often.


• Has started getting a little wary of strangers. With people he is used to, he’s fine. But when he’s being held by someone he doesn’t know or see very often, especially when he’s tired, his little bottom lip goes out and he starts to cry.

We're having a little trouble adjusting to daylight savings time. We have tried to explain to him that when we "fall back" grownups like to use the extra hour for sleep, but he then explained to us that babies like to use that extra hour to play!

Trick or Treat!!!

Yesterday was Patrick's first Halloween and first time Trick or Treating, and it was a so much fun! We joined Liz, Luke, and Annabelle for Trick or Treating in Peoria. Patrick was such a trooper being carried all over the neighborhood without any fussing at all. He was lucky to have his cousin Annabelle with him because Annabelle may just be the best Trick or Treater EVER. She was incredibly efficient and polite. She made it so much fun and had us cracking up all night. Thanks Liz, Luke, and Annabelle for a fun evening!

Ready to go:

Daddy and Monkey:

Gotta hold hands when crossing the street:

Patrick, Daddy, Uncle Luke and Cousin Annabelle: