Ryan's 1st illness

Just one day shy of turning 8 weeks old, Ryan was sick. He had a high fever when he woke up from his afternoon nap. His temperature was 102.6F when I checked. I immediately called his pediatrician's office and she wanted to see him right away. She examined him and could not see anything externally wrong, so she recommended that we take Ryan to the ER at Children's for further testing (blood tests, bacterial infection, etc). When we arrived at Children's, they ran a few tests and everything turned out negative for anything serious. Thank God! The ER pediatrician said Ryan was probably fighting a virus.

Here are a few pictures taken with my phone...


The nurse took some blood and had to leave an I.V. catheter in his little hand, in case he had to be admitted. My poor little baby.


The nurse also gave him some baby Tylenol for the fever, and he later fell asleep in my arms.

After being at the hospital for 4 hours, we were finally discharged to go home. The very next day we brought Ryan back to his pediatrician for a follow up and to do another blood culture which came back negative. For the next 3 days, Ryan still had a high fever. We made sure he was well fed and gave him baby Tylenol every 4-6 hours to control his fever. By the end of the week, Ryan started to feel better and no more fever. We are so glad and thankful that our sweet boy is feeling better and back to good health!

Bath time--Ryan's favorite

Ryan loves his bath! It really relaxes him right before bedtime. When I am giving him a bath, he makes the cutest little faces and he makes this crazy grunt sound, too. So cute! I also love the way he clenches his fists right up to his face. Precious!

Ryan (8 weeks old) enjoying his warm bath.

Natalie 1st dental exam

Natalie had her 1st dental exam/visit at 21 months old. Natalie has a full set of teeth (except her last molars) and it was time to check to see if her baby teeth and gums were healthy.

The dentist office was nicely decorated with a tropical beach theme and the waiting room had fun toys, activity table, and books. The office staff was very sweet and treated Natalie like a princess. They took a picture of Natalie with her dentist (photo above), which was nice.

The dentist explained how to properly brush and floss a toddler's teeth. FLOSSING--yeah right! Natalie brushes her own teeth every morning and night, how is she going to let Mommy/Daddy floss her teeth? Also, Natalie is a thumb-sucker and Dr. R advised that by four years old, Natalie will have to quit. Since she was little, Natalie sucked on her thumb while holding on to her "woobie" blanket during sleep. For a few months now, we have limited the "woobie" only for bedtime, so Natalie does not tote the blanket around and thumbsuck throughout the day. We hope one day Natalie will break the habit on her own ;-)

After the quick exam, Dr. R brushed Natalie's teeth, and then flossed her teeth using a children's floss stick. Natalie cried and screamed (but no kicking) during the process. Luckily, Daddy and I were there to comfort her.

Since the dental visit, Natalie is doing great at home with brushing and flossing (I do that part). After she brushes her teeth, she tells me "floss, Mama." So cute!

Morning play at the park

Friday morning, I took Natalie and Ryan to the park. Since it is too hot during the afternoons, it was nice to take them both out to enjoy the outdoors and get some fresh air.

Ryan at 7 weeks old, sleeping. Natalie loves the swing.

Snack time / Blowing bubbles, her favorite

Look at her go...Natalie has mastered the technique ;-)

New camera, new hobby

I absolutely love our new DSLR camera! On top of being a busy mom, I am taking on a new hobby...PHOTOGRAPHY. There is so much to learn about this camera. At the moment, I am just having fun clicking away pictures of our two precious kids. They are so much fun and the sweetest!

Here are up close photos of our adorable son, Ryan, at 6.5 weeks

Ryan--6 weeks old

Here are pictures of Ryan at 6 weeks old. He is sleeping better at night, going for 3 or 4 hour stretches before he feeds and then goes right back to sleep. It also seems as though he settled on a routine very quickly, which is awesome!

At six weeks, Ryan smiles a lot and he coos when we talk to him. Natalie wants to play with him all the time. She goes underneath his play mat and lays right next to him. She talks to him and always asks him if he wants his "paci." It is amazing that Ryan is aware and attentive when she is around.

He loves to snuggle and fall asleep in Daddy or Mommy's arms. Also, Ryan loves bathtime! We have another water baby (just like Daddy ;)).

Natalie loves to kiss Ryan. Here he is looking at Natalie again.

It is hard to believe he is six weeks old. He looks so much bigger! Ryan is such a cutie. We can't get enough of him!

Knock, knock

After Ryan's 1 month appointment, we took Daddy back to work. We were finishing up our lunch in the car and goofing around with Natalie. A while back, we had taught her the "knock, knock" joke. Now, she knows how to answer back, "who's there?" and then says, it's "Natalie." She is one smart, little girl ;)