Ryan’s teacher approached me about getting him some speech therapy. He’s only a young three years old, but he does have a problem with a few letter sounds. He can’t sound out the letter F, he says ‘bake’ instead of ‘rake’, and his V’s sound like D’s. I thought this was probably normal for his age.

I was a teacher before I had Ryan, but by no means do I know anything about speech problems. I asked Ryan’s doctor if he agreed with the teacher. He said yes because Ryan can’t correct the sound when I coach him.

So today was step one of the process to see if he really does need to attend speech therapy.

The hearing test. This is the first step because if there’s a problem here, it explains why he’s having a speech problem.

Todd came with me for moral support since I wasn’t quite sure how Ryan was going to handle them testing his ears. He’s great with his regular doctor, but this was something new.

We prepped him on what was going to happen before we went upstairs to the Audiologist. He was okay with it. So far, so good, I thought.

Then we met the doc and she was so nice and caring. Bonus!

For the first test Ryan was able to sit on my lap and hold the monitor – so he thought that was cool. Another bonus!

The second test was a little more involved though. He had these ear plugs in each ear while sitting in the sound booth. She was on the outside of the booth, with her headset, where she could talk to Ryan and feed him sounds in his ears. When he heard a beep, I had to hand him a block and he put it in a container. Once again, having me in there and getting to play with some cool blocks made everything a little easier! You guessed it…another bonus!

After the doc did the beeping sound test, then there was a test where the computer would say a word and he would have to repeat it, if he could hear it. These words were a wide range of volume - from normal sounding conversation to a quiet whisper.

As a mom, that was just a sweet moment. I hear him talk all the time, but for some reason, hearing him say these words made me tear up! He had to say words like ‘cupcake’ and ‘hotdog’, but I’m not sure why those words made me emotional! It’s a mom thing, I guess! Silly me!

Both tests came out fine. No problems. Our next step is to have Ryan meet with the Speech Therapist so she can assess him. That will be in 20 days.

I’m just glad everything went so well today. The Audiologist said she wished all her patients were as well behaved as Ryan! He was so cooperative and pleasant! That’s my boy!

Me: “Ryan, what were you doing in the backyard?”

Ryan: “I was picking this pretty flower for you, Mommy!”

(Mommy smiles…)

I wish I was talking about the weather, but unfortunately, I’m talking about how the cold and flu season has taken over our family.

It all started at the end of December. Ryan started with a runny nose that wouldn’t quit. Then chest congestion invaded his body, followed by the stomach flu. Wow, now that’s something to talk about right there!

Ryan had the stomach flu for the first time in his life and it wasn’t pretty. Actually, my carpet isn’t pretty. I’m not quite sure what I was thinking when I bought him a strawberry soda from El Pollo Loco that night, but let’s just say I taught myself a lesson. Don’t give your kid colored beverages when he’s sick!!!!

He had thrown up many times that night (in the bowl I gave him for such instances), but for some reason when I went to put him to bed he didn’t quite think fast enough. Before I could realize what was going on, he had thrown up strawberry soda (and the rest of his dinner) on our year-old beige carpet and all down the side of his nightstand.

Was I able to get it all out of the carpet, you ask? Of course not.

Thankfully that was the end of the stomach flu for him and he slept peacefully that night.  We did end up visiting the doctor a couple days later since he didn’t seem 100%, but he just had a cold, nothing worse, so the doc couldn’t really do anything for Ryan. She did say he could possibly get an ear infection as a result of the cold, but that he was smart and he’d let me know.

Sure enough, he woke up screaming at two in the morning on New Year’s Day. Todd and I had only been asleep for about an hour when we were quickly awakened by his cries. Ryan really couldn’t be comforted. He was in so much pain.

We gave him some Tylenol hoping he would be able to handle the pain long enough to get some sleep until morning. He was in lots of pain for about three hours and then finally fell asleep in our bed at 5:30 a.m. Lucky for us, he slept in until 8:30 so we were able to get some shut eye too. That morning the doctor confirmed that he indeed had an ear infection caused by his cold. He was on antibiotics for 10 days and got a clean bill of health today!

He did not get away that easy though! He had so much wax build-up in his ear (apparently that’s a normal thing…who knew?) that the nurse had to use a syringe filled with warm water to flush it out!!! Ryan was such a trooper though. He didn’t look happy about it, but he didn’t complain either! He’s so good!

His cold managed to go away, but attending preschool 3 days a week has caused him to get another cold. Poor guy! Not only Ryan, but now Todd has a bit of one as well. Ruby managed to get a tiny one over Christmas vacation, but healed quickly. I, on the other hand, did not. A few days before New Year’s Eve I came down with a cold and had to spend a couple days in bed. I haven’t been that sick in a long time. Luckily I was better and able to go out to celebrate the new year and my friend’s birthday!

Hopefully Ruby and I will miss this round and we can all get back to our healthy lives again! Maybe I should pull him out of school for the rest of his life so he doesn’t bring the germs home? Ha, ha!

I hope 2012 has started off wonderfully for you! Even with all our illness, it is proving to be another great year already!

Happy Thanksgiving from my little turkey!

I want to start by saying – I LOVE this time of year!!!

Yesterday Ryan had a feast at his preschool and we were all invited. They started off by singing and reciting a Bible verse. So cute!! You can always tell who the older kids are because they aren’t afraid to raise their voices. Ryan isn’t one of the older kids! He just kept smiling and waving at us the entire time. Handsome boy!

All the parents brought food and we did a whole lot of celebrating by eating together! I made corn crispers and they were pretty good. Ruby wants me to make them again in the future. The school has a sign-up sheet and then provides us recipes to make for the kids, parents, and teachers. It turned out beautiful and the teachers did a great job decorating.

Here we are enjoying our time together. Ruby was lucky enough not to have school, so she came along too.

A little playground action after our meal. I just love how Ryan is looking at the camera from upside down!

Today we’ll be heading out to a buffet dinner for our Thanksgiving meal. We pretty much eat out for Thanksgiving every year. It’s always nice to have a home cooked meal, but nice not to have any dishes to clean up afterwards! I think I’m a little nervous to make a turkey for some reason. There are so many ways to do it and so I guess I find it intimidating!

Unfortunately, my grandma was admitted to the hospital Wednesday evening so she won’t be able to come to dinner with us. It seems like she always gets sick around the holidays or someone’s birthday. I sure hope she feels better soon!

I’ve been browsing the deals for Black Friday online. I really checked out Best Buy because I wanted to know why people were camping out in tents since Tuesday morning (or earlier) for electronics. They do have a lot of great deals. The sale actually starts today and a lot of the items you can buy online. I’m not sure that I’d want anything so badly that I’d camp out for it. I guess everyone is different!

Happy Thanksgiving!! We  have so much to be thankful for in this life!!

Wednesday nights Ryan attends AWANA at church where they memorize Bible verses and learn more about Jesus. Before church we were practicing his verse for the week. Here’s how the conversation went…

Mommy: “All Scripture is God-breathed…(2 Timothy 3:16)”

Ryan: “I got it! No need help!”

“All Scripture Him breathe through His nose!”

It was adorable because he was so serious! I was laughing and crying at the same time. That’s my sweet boy!

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As part of his homework he had to draw 3 pictures. It’s so cool to see him actually forming pictures when he draws now. There’s still a lot of scribbling, but he’s thinking about what he’s going to do first.

He had to draw Cubby Bear, a cherry tree, and The Most Delicious Peanut Butter Cookie Stand.

Like every mom with a young child, you start planning for your kids birthday party months in advance. You’re going to want the right theme for that special year, a guest list followed by cute invitations, cake, decorations, entertainment, food, etc. It can be a time consuming process.

For Ryan’s birthday last month, picking the theme was easy. He’s all about Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. I found the perfect invitations at Etsy.com. If you’ve never heard of Etsy, it’s a website where people sell their handmade items. You can find the most adorable stuff there.

Besides the Mickey Mouse invites, I found this cute shirt there as well.

Doesn’t he look handsome?

We had a balloon artist who could make any of the Disney characters. Plus, we had a glitter tattoo artist that gave all the kids (and some of the cool adults) these sparkly tattoos.

And the final product…a shark!

For dinner we had Subway sandwiches. I’m not quite ready to cook for over 40 people yet!

Then I had a special Mickey Mouse birthday cake made for Ryan. One layer was chocolate and the other was french vanilla. The filling was cream cheese frosting with chocolate chips! It was yummy! Here’s Ryan blowing out his candles.

I also made some red velvet cupcakes. I thought it would be a nice added touch to the cake. I bought these cute Disney cupcake liners, but once the cupcakes were made, you couldn’t see the design anymore. Big mom fail! To save the day I ended up making some french vanilla ones too and incorporting them both onto this cute Mickey Mouse Clubhouse cupcake holder.

I guess it’s a good thing I made the cupcakes the day before so I could fix my problem. It wouldn’t have been that big of deal if I kept them all red velvet, but I guess I’m just a little picky!

After the cake we had the kids do the pull-string pinata. (Just in case they didn’t get enough sugar from the cake or cupcakes!) Each kid takes turns pulling a string. You never know which kid is going to pull the right string and make all the candy fall out. So suspenseful! I guess it is if you’re 2 or 3 years old, right?

The kids got lots of candy!

Here are Ryan and Ruby resting after the pinata action! He’s a little distracted by that yummy cupcake being handed to him!

We opened presents after the pinata and – let me tell you – all the kids would have liked to open Ryan’s presents for him! I have some pictures of the action, but they’re all blurry because of all the chaos! Ha, ha!

I was able to get a couple pictures of Ryan sitting on his new Cars bike we got him. He learned to ride it in two days! With training wheels, of course!

He’s trying to figure out how to put on the helmet here.

Here he is happy as a clam!

Happy 3rd birthday, Ryan! Papa and I hope you had a blast!

These pictures are from September 6th. I know, I know, I’m a little behind!

In my last post about preschool, I shared with you all pictures from Ryan’s graduation from the 2-year-old class at the end of August. When the new school year started back up (a week later) he was starting a new class with the 3-year-old kids.

Moving up an age group means a new teacher, a new classroom, and desks! He’s a big boy now! Ha, ha!

So here he is on his first day. He brought an apple for the teacher. It’s not one she can eat, but one she can clean her hands with instead!

If you look closely, Ryan’s eyes aren’t looking at the camera. For some reason, that’s how every picture of him looks right now. He’s always looking at someone or something else that’s going on while I try and take a picture. In this case, the pastor’s wife was walking up. This was convenient though because then she could take this picture of all of us…

Ryan had a great first day! He loved his new class — and teacher too!

September marked the beginning of apple season at our house. Lucky for us, the tree is in our own backyard! One of the cool things about this house is that when we moved in about 10 months ago, there were already apple, lemon, and pomegranate trees in the side yard. We get a lot of apples and lemons from the trees, but we’ve only had about two pomegranates so far.

Ryan was waiting patiently for the apples to ripen and start falling off the tree. You have to be quick though, otherwise the birds will get to them first. Well, in this case, Charlie ended up getting the first one that fell from the tree. She was thrilled to get the first big apple of the season.

I was a little worried it might make her sick, but one thing is for sure…Charlie has eaten a lot of weird things in 4 years and she hasn’t been sick yet, so I figured she would be ok. Plus, I think I would have had to shoot her with a tranquilizer gun before she would even give up that apple!

And then there’s Ryan…he was thrilled to get the second ripe apple of the season.

This kid can eat apples, let me tell you. I think I could feed him apples all day long and he wouldn’t get sick of them.

Ryan wanted me to make sure I took a picture of  him eating his apple in all his vehicles, so here he is in the cozy coupe and on his motorcycle.

The tag on the tree says they’re Gordon apples. They are red and green and absolutely yummy! Time to start finding some apple recipes!