Merry Christmas

Here's Ry's Christmas photo. If you didn't get one in the mail, don't be offended... we just got too busy to send lots of them out. Merry Christmas to you all.

He's on the mend

And we're so thankful. He even gained a pound even though he was sick. Ryan's been a bit crabby today, but he's at least playing and his fever is so slight I'm feeling way better.

Yay!

Ryan goes to the ER

He's fine now, but it was scary at first. The kid was fine yesterday, but when I put him down for a nap I noticed he was a little warm. He woke up screaming, had a fever of 101.8 and wouldn't eat.

The the throwing up started. It wasn't pretty, but he'd only had one sippy cup of milk and a mini blueberry muffin all day.

Then he was vomiting clear stomach liquid and choking. I called Adam. Then I called the doctor.

And so began our seven hour stay in the ER where Ry's temp spiked to 103.2, they poked him three times before getting blood and starting an IV (he wasn't happy) and discovered that maybe he just has a GI infection.

There's nothing worse than having your kid in the ER and not being able to be in the room to comfort them when they need you. I don't do needles. When I get IVs or blood drawn I have a system that works for me, but if I had to hold him down like Adam did last night I'd been sobbing and most likely pass out.

They put a little cast like thing on his arm to keep him from getting the IV out. He tried to get it out before crying himself to sleep.

We got home at 1:30 this morning.

Good news is he's had all the blood work done and all came back with good results, well except for the thyroid one which we don't have back yet.

We saw the doctor today and she's happy that he's better. He's laughed a little today. Adam stayed home with us for most of the day, but is at work now.

I just wish little kids never had to get sick.

Of cookies and snow

Here are a few photos of Ryan in his big brother t-shirt with cookies and the in the snow. I promised a photo of LM2 in the womb... we need to find the scanner. It's packed and I'm just not sure where it could be.


Ryan loves baking cookies. He is skilled with the rolling pin.
Who knows what happened to the cookie cutter?
Getting ready to go out in the snow Friday.
Both dada and Ryan all ready.

And the two playing in the snow, which Ryan thought was fun with dada. And there's more snow predicted for Sunday. Afterall, it is Maine.

Medical Update

Thank you all for your prayers and well wishes. My cyst has decreased 45 more percent since my last ultra sound almost four weeks ago. Yay! No surgery! *doing happy dance*

We even brought home photos of LM2 who has a big head just like his/her brother did! We were in the room and Adam looks at me and says, "I have bad news for you. This kid likes touching his head too." It's kind of funny now, but it wasn't when Ryan was born. He came out with his hand on his head and Adam was telling me he thinks this kid will be the same. As long as he/she is healthy, I will eventually forgive them for coming out that way, if that should happen.

Ry also had a well baby check up today. He's still 21 pounds. He's been 21 pounds for a LONG time now. He eats just fine, though if there's something on his plate he loves like meat, pasta or bread, he'll eat more of that than say vegetables. He has to go for fasting blood work (poor kid) soon. They're checking for a lot of things mainly diabetes and thyroid problems (we knew there'd be a chance he'd develop a thyroid problem because of mine and me taking drugs while pregnant). For now we'll start him on PediaSure to see if that will help him gain weight. And no juice. The doctor said he may be filling up on that, which I doubt. Most days he only drinks two to four ounces of it, but we'll do what she says.

We also think he has a UTI, which isn't going to be fun to actually diagnose. Tonight we have to adhere a cup with a bad attached to it for him to pee in while sleeping and then bring that to the dr's office. This kid is going to hate us!

Anyway, thanks again. Photo of LM2 and some of Ryan to follow this week.

The day before the big test

I feel like it's the day before a really big exam... one you just cannot fail. Tomorrow morning is my thrid ultra sound of this pregnancy. The results will determine whether I need surgery while pregnant or if life will continue as normal. There are days when I feel very positive about this experience. I feel like the reduction of the cyst by 20 percent in two weeks (between weeks 7 and 9) mean the cyst will be gone and no surgery will be needed. Then there are the days when I have a complete meltdown because I really can't imagine surgery while pregnant. Well, I cannot imagine surgery period.

Today I am nervous. I cannot prepare as if this were an exam. It's more like a pop quiz. I'll show up and the results will be what they will be. I'm still nervous. It's going to take a long time for 9:30 tomorrow morning to get here.

For now I wait and hope to pass this test.

Did I mention...

that Kyle and Sarah visited in November? Well they did and it was great. Here's a photo of us together. Sarah's due in May for their first baby. I already have a small baby belly. The morning sickness has not yet left, which is so disappointing. I was having a really good week and then this morning things were bad possibly because I went to be hungry... not good.

The man in the bedroom and other stories

There was a man in our bedroom last night. I don't expect anyone to believe me especially after the last time I saw a man on the couch and he was just a sweatshirt and guitar case (see my post from May).

But there was a man standing at the door to our bedroom last night. Adam's convinced it's the new headache medicine my doc gave me. It's a narcotic. It can cause hallucinations. That's his theory. It could be right.

My mother-in-law, however, believes in spirits. I don't mean wine and spirits, though I'm sure she likes those too. I mean the ones that visit you. Once she claims to have seen angels guarding her room while her husband was away on business. My father-in-law has seen a lady in a blue dress walk in our living room. My grandmother used to tell us that my grandfather would come and sit on the bed and talk to her after he had died.

I didn't hold a conversation with the man in the doorway, instead I tried to call for help. Hello, there was a strange person standing in our doorway. I don't know if I believe in spirits the way these other people in my life do, but there was something in that doorway, real or imagined last night and it freaked me out.

In other stories, I am anxiously awaiting my ultrasound next week. I just want to know if I'm having surgery while pregnant or if the cyst has disappeared. It's exciting that this will be my third ultrasound and that we get to see baby again. There have been a lot of people who've sent encouraging messages about this whole situation. I've needed those. Thank you.

And one last pregnancy thing. I'm hungry all. the. time. Someone help me please! I was not this hungry with Ryan. I'm sure that had something to do with being miserably sick until seven months. This time, while sick, I'm not nearly as miserable as with Ry. Having my thyroid under control probably has something to do with this. I refuse to gain one more pound in the two weeks remaining in my first trimester!

Ryan bakes more cookies

This was the finished product. Notice the very green cookie. He worked on that one for a long time.

He's eating and working at the same time!

The post I've been wanting to write

As the title suggests, I've been waiting to write this for awhile, but I've had to wait for the right timing.

McGee's three will become McGee's four in June 2008... we are expecting again!

I feel I should be more excited, but this pregnancy hasn't been any fun so far. The excitement ended the day after the pregnancy test was positive in the Babies R Us bathroom. (I couldn't bring the test here for the in-laws to see it!) The happiness ended because of a yeast infection. Just not nice.

Then there was morning sickness at week five! Week FIVE people. GRRRR! I went to work and quickly came home. Went to the doctor who wanted me to go to the hospital, but I managed to hold that water in until the parking lot! We got our prescription and it's been better, but not the best.

Then there was the UTI. Can things just stop going wrong down there? Please? Pretty Please?!

Oh no. That would be too easy. Pregnancy always has to be complicated for me. Last time it was my thyroid which made my pregnancy high risk because it's easy to miscarry. We made it though. This time, thyroid problems do the same thing, so I had an ultra sound at seven weeks. Baby's heart rate was fine and things seemed fine.

But the doctor and the ultra sound tech had a conversation in whispers... and I wondered, but she said nothing. Well, until this week when she informs me I need another ultra sound because, "you have a really large ovarian cyst that can cause complications in later months."

Okay don't panic because doc says this can be taken care of early and early is better than too late.

Ultra sound number two lands me in an office with a specialist who explains that during the first trimester most women develop a smaller version of the cyst that I have because it keeps the pregnancy viable until the eighth week when the placenta takes over. The problems is that mine is still the size of a baseball at week nine.

So now we wait until week 13 when we do a third ultra sound. If the cyst has gone away, no need for surgery. If it's still there I get to have surgery while pregnant. Fun, huh? And in the meantime if I feel like I might be miscarrying, I.E. in a lot of pain, get to the ER because it's something to do with the cyst!

So begins the life of Little McGee II. While we're feeling excited about giving Ryan a brother or sister (and we aren't finding out the gender until he or she enters the world...much to my sister-in-laws frustration) we're nervous about the whole cyst thing.

Ryan has no idea about baby, though he puts his head on my stomach and listens sometimes. I think he mostly hears gas or other tummy rumblings. Speaking of tummy rumblings, I've been more hungry this pregnancy than the last. More hungry is not good when you are also not keeping food in most mornings and sometimes in the evenings.

And this, btw, was the secret that my dear friend Sarah leaked to co-workers of Adam's. We didn't want family finding out through them and had planned to wait to tell my in-laws last this time (my parents first since they visit this weekend) but that ruined that plan. Oh well =-)

Now to tell my parents tonight. Maybe I'll take photos and post them here later this week.

Ryan goes trick-or-treating




Ryan went trick-or-treating last night, thanks to a borrowed costume from our neighbours. He really enjoyed getting the treats. He went at Squirt from Finding Nemo. Dada helped him knock on doors, though he is really good at it himself. It was fun and he was just so cute. This is my second attempt of this post. The first one ended badly when Ryan pressed some button that made it all go away!

And then it got around...

Last night we had a lovely dinner with our friends Marie and Mike. It was really nice to see them and their new apartment.

Then we got home.

And there was a message on our answering machine from Adam's newest employee (who is so wonderful) that revealed that someone told another employee something that was supposed to be a secret.

I know I had only told one person. ONE person. And somehow this bit of information had leaked out to one of my husband's employees who was gossipy enough to share with new employee boy who thought we should be aware of such a situation.

I was so mad, but I didn't believe my trusted friend, Sarah C., would not keep a secret. Then dear old husband reminded me that her mother had been nearby when I told said secret and probably missed the part where I said, "but this is just between us, okay."

A little investigation today and we find that it was most likely Sarah C.'s mother-dear.

But still... can't people mind their own business? I'm still in fear that the secret has been told to millions!

USS Albacore

We took a field trip this weekend to the USS Albacore in Portsmouth New Hampshire. The sub was a test ship from 1953 to 1972 and was built at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. We had fun and are glad we decided to go.

Fall Photo



So many photos of Ryan... I picked this one to share since it's nice and fall-like. He loved this day. We went to Punkin Fiddle and saw lots of animals... he called them all dogs, but hey, it was fun!

Baby Rhyme Time

Ryan went to his first Baby Rhyme Time today. At first he held on for dear life and didn't want to do any of the songs or anything. Then we did some rhymes that involved being bounced on my knee and tickled in the tummy and hew as very much into it then.

The toys came out later and he was very much delighted. Only thing is, being an only child so far, Ryan just walked around and stole toys from other babies, even when he already had a toy. It was kind of funny, but at the same time we'd love for him to learn to share.

And he didn't want to leave, mostly because of the toys.

I am glad we went, even if it took a half hour to get there!

Ear infection and Strep

My ear hurt so bad on Sunday that we went to the urgent care place in Wells. Not only do I have an ear infection, I also have strep. I swear if I get in a 50 foot radius of someone with strep, I get it! My ear hurt so bad that I didn't notice the pain in my throat. My ear still hurts today, but at least I only have one prescription for both ailments.

We moved yesterday too. It's nice to finally be done, but I hated every minute of the move. Ryan is outside with his grandmother laughing right now, so he's happy, and that's good.

Now just to find where we packed everything =-)

My ear hurts and we're moving

This week I've been really tired. Ryan keeps waking up for the day at 5:30 a.m. - not good. Some how it was okay when he was ity bity, but now it's just not fun. This morning he climbed over me, grabbed my hand and took me to the fridge for his milk. He drank it in our bed and then went back to sleep. I am still awake. I think I have an ear infection. It REALLY hurts. It's also Saturday, which means I'll have to wait till Monday to see the doctor. Sigh.

We're also in the process of our big move to the in-law's basement apartment.... well that's what it will be once the living room and bathroom are done. Right now, it's just two bedrooms. We were supposed to move Thursday, but there were some finishing things to do and yesterday I worked 9-6. We're going to move our stuff tomorrow after church.

I know this move will be good for us in terms of getting out of debt from when the newspaper job when south, but I'm not ready for it. I like our house. I don't want to rent it out to strangers (no one wants to buy it, apparently).

Then I read Kathleen's post and thought, maybe my attitude needs to shift from one of grumpiness, negativity, and complaining (and thinking that this won't work out) to one of peace and of 'the hope of the glory of God.'"

In separate news, my friend, Sarah "six months" (so nicknamed because she didn't know she was pregnant with baby number dos until she was six months pregnant) is expecting baby number three. This time, she's just 12 weeks along. We're really excited for them. They're great parents to Trevor and Madison.

In other news, I had wicked cute photos of Ryan to post, but the usb cord that connects from my camer to the computer is not working. Sorry.

Must go take asprin for ear. Will write more after the move.

K-12

I got this idea from my friend Gillie

It's a really neat way to remember life a long time ago... at least it seems like a long time ago.

Kindergarten: My teacher's name was Miss Courtney and she had this puppet that came out on rainy days.

First Grade: Mrs. Cooper was my teacher and I remember my cousin Gina and this boy, Pete sitting at the back of the class. We also wrote really small in this grade. I remember she liked small, neat handwriting.

Second Grade: I had an awesome teacher, Miss Jenkins who married high school P.E. teacher Mr. Fretz. Anyway, I discovered some of my favorite books in her class during reading hour. They are, James and the Giant Peach, Mr. Popper's Penguins and The Mouse and the Motorcycle. Also, we did a play and I had the role of the teacher.

Third Grade: Mrs. Malcolm was my teacher. She had a paddle named Big Ben. You never wanted to get hit with Big Ben for being bad in class. I also remember this kid Arthur wet his pants a lot.

Fourth Grade: I had Mr. Tatum for a teacher. He was from Texas and loved to talk about it. I mostly remember spelling bees where he would call out a word and two people would be at the chalkboard. First to spell it right got their team points. Katrina and I used to be paired against each other. We were the fastest.

Fifth Grade: This was a fun year. Nashika came to our school that year. She was cool. Jaton, Nashika and I were really good friends the next two years. Mrs. Hannah had a sleep-over for all the girls and several pool parties for our entire class. Such fun!

Sixth Grade: Jr. Girls Softball Championship lost. Class trip to Orlando. Awesome.

Seventh Grade: I remember a lot about the seventh grade. I could write a book. The thing that stands out most is that there were a lot of teachers "from away" (as they say in Maine). I had to get used to Jamaican, British and several other accents. Miss Neita was a crazy teacher. It was the first year I met Tom Barkley, my math teacher and friend. This was my second year playing Jr. Girls Softball.

Eighth Grade: Hatchet...that book about a boy that gets stranded on an island.... we read the same chapter over and over in Miss Burrows (aka Rummy) class because the woman could not remember anything! We were convinced she was drinking...hence the nickname. She also saved a special seat at the front of the class for the Holy Spirit.

Ninth Grade: Bahamas Junior Certificate Examinations. Miss Button was my Math teacher. She was awesome. This was also the best year in terms of friends from church. We had an awesome group that always hung out together. Good times.

Tenth Grade: Miss Smith was one of my homeroom teachers. I'm not sure if it was this year or the year before, but at some point she painted her VW Beetle (the old school one) like a purple zebra. Senior Girls Softball Team wins championships. I was the catcher.

Eleventh Grade: Long evenings with Jaton and Mr. Brown working on yearbook.

Twelfth Grade: Softball team sucked this year, but I played anyway. I also remember our coursework for BGCSEs (another national exam) where I made a vest and school bag. The two pieces ended up touring the Bahamas.

More Photos


So this was one of three dolphins we saw while boating. The first day I just thought it was a shark, but that it was still cool. We circled around and it came up for air again. I tired to get photos that day, but no luck. The second day there were two. I managed to get a photo of the baby one.


One of the big crabs we caught.


Ryan learns to drive.

Abaco

Our trip to Abaco was wonderful. Adam got lots of rest, which he really needed since he works so hard. His rest included finishing the HP books 5 and 6. He is on to the Deathly Hallows now!

My mum watched Ryan each morning so that I could go fishing with the guys. I really love to fish so this was just wonderful. On Thursday and Friday we caught a lot of fish. Thursday was my lucky day as I pulled in 75 percent of our catch. Oh what fun!

It seems the days went by too fast and we did so much. We have LOTS Of photos. I'll try to post a few here, but they are already up on facebook for those who use that internet tool.


The three of us in the water. We swam just about every night. So relaxing.


My favorite photo from this trip. Ryan explores the water by himself. Then runs to dada because he has sand in his shoes =-)

Another fav of my little boy.

More photos tomorrow.