Ryalnd's Easter Show

Ms. Kristine & Ms. Lyndsay's AM class

Ryland & Ms. Kristine 

R: Mom I want to dress handsome for my Easter show
M: What is handsome Ry?
R: It's hanging in my closet...see!

M: Oh yes Ry, you are very handsome!

A sad day in the Soich Family

On Tuesday March 27th Parker died in his sleep.  He was 11 years old.  A faithful shadow to Todd, a protector of the house, a hunter (in his early years), a companion to Gator girl, a retriever through and through, always up for chasing a tennis ball, and LOVED water!

On Friday March 16th I took Parker to the vet.  He had not been acting himself, throwing up after eating, refusing to eat and just seemed out of sorts.  The vet took one look at him and guessed that he had a tumor on his spleen (distended belly, lethargic, etc.)  And then an X-ray confirmed.  The large tumor was pushing his stomach and intestines.  He gave me the options for treatment  and gave him some medicine to stop the throwing up.  I immediately went to the shop to see Hottie and later that night we told the boys.  The news was very hard on all of us.  We decided to just wait and see, knowing when the time was right we would do what was best for Parker. 

Above are a few pictures I took that evening knowing it was just a mater of time.  Over the next 9 days his health deteriorated quickly.  We started given him rice.  He would eat it for a couple of meals and then he stopped.  We mixed baby food in the rice.  He ate it for a couple of meals and then he stopped.  We got "wet" dog food.  Again, it was ok, for a couple of meals and then he stopped.  We finally resorted to feeding him corndogs but after two days he wouldn't eat anything.
That afternoon he went and laid by the pool while the boys swam and Todd later carried him inside.  We carefully listened for his breathing throughout dinner and then went to check on him before bed.  We are so thankful that we were home and know that he went peacefully, that the boys were already asleep, and that Chris was able to come over and get Parker.

The last few days have been a tough new normal.  We miss our Parker-park! 

Wordless Wednesday: Outakes

8 months old

Sleep
Cooper sleeps from 7:30 pm to 6:00 am (work days, when I have to wake him up) or 6:30 am (school days, when he wakes up).   I think there have been more 'sleep through the night' nights than not this past month but those 'up nights' are TOUGH!  His naps have gotten more consistent but due to my ever changing schedule he doesn't sleep everyday at the same time for the same amount of time. 

Eating
He stopped needing Zantac this month.  He eats 6+ oz at 5:30/6:30, 9:00, 1:00, 5:00, and 7:30.  We also introduced more baby foods and he likes pears, apples, carrots, mixed fruits, prunes, and oatmeal.  No other "issues" with the introduction of new stuff.  

Play
We have a crawler!  On Saturday, March 3, I went to a Birthday party for a friend and when I came home that afternoon he crawled over to me as if he had been crawling all along!  Later that week he started to pull him self up and then just days later he was doing it effortlessly!  Ugh!  I am SO not ready for that! He loves his walker and is a terror in it!  He is so quick and can push things out of his way (chairs, stools, bags).  We've taken it to the baseball fields a couple of times to keep him entertained. 

 
Other Stuff
He is still in size 3 diapers
Mostly 12 month clothing.
Spitting up is VERY rare these days.
No more clogged tear duct!
Reaches for you when you go to pick him up.
We are still using sign language for eat and all done.  He will react to them and has used the signs a couple of times.

St. Patrick's Day 2012

Once again the Leprechaun visited and filled the boy's shoes with gifts.  (St Patrick's day was quite the discussion this year.  Counting down, guessing what he was going to bring, leaving their shoes out.

Since March 17th fell on Saturday this year I made green milk for Ryland's Froot Loops (which ended up being a melt down trigger - who knew?) and green pancakes for Jayden.

Summer Boat...say what?

Someone bought a "summer" boat. 

Not to be confused with the "duck" boat or the "project" boat.

2004,18 foot Pathfinder

Good thing we got that circular driveway.

The whole family has been on the "summer" boat a couple of times already and Hottie has taken it snook fishing a couple of times too! Here's to summertime!

Jayden's School time

Directions: Write about a "monster" you keep under the bed at home.

Jayden is VERY literal...Those are their bunk beds with Ryland sleeping in his bed.

Can you tell Mrs. Digiorgio is allowing the kids to grade their own work?

Groundhog's Day

I have a dream..

 "I have a dream that one day people will not bully people.  Why, so kids won't hurt kids feelings." 

Love the "Gaders" scarf!