So Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

I have so much to be thankful for this year it makes me emotional. I will never be thankful that Carter got cancer, but I will always be thankful for God's grace and all the ways He provided during that rough time. We are so thankful for all of the wonderful doctors that Carter has/had, the way everything was over so quickly, and the many family members and friends that walked with us loving, encouraging, and praying for us. How wonderful that our little boy is with us and didn't have to have chemo and will be able to celebrate many many more Thanksgivings with us. When we look back at the day we were told Carter had a tumor and the days following, we are so amazed at the way God held us in His hands and took care of us. Yes we were emotional, and yes it was hard, but with God we made it and are now stronger because of it.
I am so thankful to all of you who prayed for Carter and us and who helped us through the nightmare. Thank you!
Hope you have a great day full of thanks!

I can't believe I did it!

WOW! I am finally posting. Where have I been? I'm not even sure. Apparently the Ryan's have been very busy. I wanted to post on November 1, that I can't believe 6 months have flown by since our sweet Carter was diagnosed with cancer. 6 months!! Can you believe it? I sometimes think my life stopped on May 1st, so its hard to believe its November, and well now its the middle of November and I haven't posted on anything in a LONG time. (OK sorry for rambling)

I can't believe I did it! What did I do you ask? Well, I cut Carter's hair. Yes, Yes, I know, WHAT hair? I was well aware that the child did not have very much hair, but the stringy fuzz in the back was driving me crazy and last week I couldn't take it any more. Most people can't even tell a difference, but I can and that all that counts! Right? I will probably keep his hair trimmed nice and short until it gets a little thickness to it. I am sure that some day he will not look bald anymore. Maybe by the time he turns 2. Here are some before and after pictures, like I said there is not much of a difference.

If you look close and squint, you will see the long hair on the right side of his precious head!

Whew! Look at all that long fuzz!!

My big brave boy sat there so good and still for his mommy!

I told you he had a lot of extra hair.

So much better! Isn't he handsome?

Pumpkin Patch

SERIOUSLY PEOPLE. Don't ridicule me because I thought the pumpkin patch was expensive. I AM CHEAP!!! We loved it and had a great time, but we don't have a lot of extra money and I like things we can do for free. So please no more anonymous comments about how it was great for the price and how it wasn't that expensive. WE ARE POOR!!!

We went to a pumpkin patch last Saturday and the kids had a great time. I was a little disappointed at first with the price to get in, and I'm still not sure it was worth it, but it is good to get out of the house sometimes no matter the price.

Enjoy some cute pictures of the boys. I LOVE the beautiful fall weather we have been having. I love the falling leaves, cooler weather, fun family time and good fall comfort food (soups and chili).

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Carter is talking!
I can't get over how many words Carter says. This could be a whole other post, but I mean really we know I won't post again anytime soon.

Bye=Bye Bye
Ah Bah=Evan (he usually is yelling his name, its pretty cute)
baw=ball
eat=eat (pretty plainly said, the boy loves to eat)
tank ewe=thank you
peas=please
lmo=Elmo (see picture above in Elmo jacket)
uh oh=Uh Oh
NOO=No (usually when we are trying to get him to do something or at his brother, very loud and clear)
puppee=puppy (he loves to give love to his stuffed animals and they are all called puppee no matter what they really are)
uck=duck
hunk hunk =honk honk/nose
toes=toes

up a=up
eye=eye

As you can tell our boy is a genius!

Sounds for a dog, pig, cow, duck, and just about any other animal sounds like a quack. That is his only animal sound.

It doesn't seem possible that he is big enough to talk to us. He is also getting big enough to throw fits! Fun fun times ahead.

Not Me Monday!

I did not stand at the time clock at work for one minute so I could get another quarter of an hour pay, that would be so ridiculous and I don't have time to do things like that.



I did not work out longer than usual just so I could go to Dairy Queen.



I did not eat a DQ blizzard while watching The Biggest Loser.



I did not check McMama's blog during church yesterday because I had not checked on her since Friday. Seriously, who would do something like that.



I did not laugh at Carter while he pouted because I was holding Evan and not him. Carter is SO jealous.



I did not eat a hamburger and cheesy french fries at Steak N Shake at 10 p.m. That would be so bad for me and I am a healthy girl!



I did not go running yesterday. My ankle has only been better for 2 weeks and running would be stupid and way to soon.



To see more Not Me Monday's visit Mckmama.

Not Me Monday!

Time to share things I have not done this week. To see more Not Me Mondays! go to MckMama's blog.

I did not pull out a LONG gray hair out of my chin. I am way to young to have chin hair.

I did not fall asleep while Carter played in his crib and Evan played in the living room way to late in the afternoon because then I would not have slept well last night. And while I did not sleep Evan did not ask me if he needed to be more quiet.

I did not make chocolate chip cookies at 10 p.m.

I did not feed my 4 year old dinner at 8:45 p.m. then immediately put him to bed, that is way too late for a child to eat and that is irresponsible. No, not me.

I did not almost cry when a friend told me she bought a St. Jude pumpkin at our local store in honor of Carter.

I did not cry and call the allergist that Carter saw bad names the whole rest of the day after meeting that jerk. I am a nice Christian girl and I wouldn't do something like that.

Visit MckMama to read other not so truthful posts or try one of your own.

All Clear!!

Carter has been too busy to update his blog so please forgive him! Yesterday went fairly well all things considered. Our wonderful nurse (the one we always get, she is our favorite) was able to get Carter's IV on the first try. It took a while to get the blood for the allergy test and make sure it was good, but still only one poke. Once he started crying because of the IV he was pretty whiny the rest of the day. My grandma and I didn't have trouble spoiling and babying him. The CT came back clear!!! It is such a relief to hear those words come out of the doctor's mouth. I was nervous yesterday but I never realize how much until I can breath a sigh of relief. The doctor also mentioned that after a year we might go to chest x-rays only so he isn't getting all the radiation from the CT scan, and because (her words) his chance of recurrence is so low. I have heard her say that before but to hear it again was wonderful. I love his doctor because she is so encouraging.
We had a fun day at the zoo today, Carter enjoyed being outside and looking at everything. I had some sort of miraculous healing in my ankle. Its a little tender but I can walk on it just fine with out a brace or anything. After a long day at the zoo it doesn't hurt at all! I am really excited about this. I hate being a gimp.
We will be going home tomorrow. I know Mike misses us, he hates when his family is gone.
Thanks for the prayers.

Allergist

It would be an understatement to say the allergist was a jerk. By the end of the appointment I came to the conclusion that he really is a good allergist but has very little people skills. It would also be an understatement to say I cry easily, and with that being said the allergist made me cry because he was so rude. I m very sensitive when it comes to my children and them having exczema. I have always done everything that doctors tell me and Mike and I try hard to make sure neither of them are itchy. Last week when I took Evan to the dermatologist he said I was doing everything I could and Evan's skin looked good and breakouts are normal for kids with eczema. Well according to our allergist today (apparently he is the best person in the world, his feelings not mine) that guy was wrong. So who do I believe. I have had so many opinions by so many professionals and I'm just frustrated. I have dealt with exczema for more than 4 years and heard a lot of new information today. Not to say the doctor was wrong or crazy and I know everything because I know I don't, but why after 4 years do I hear information contradicting everything I have heard for the last 4 years. Apparently the only thing I am doing right is using All free and clear laundry detergent. I quit using Dove soap about a month ago because I felt like it was drying out the boys' skin. Well Dr. Smarty pants thought that was stupid since its a moisturizer. I have been told by our current pediatrician ( and I really hope she reads this only because I know he would have gotten her all fired up) that I need to use Eucerin cream on them twice a day. I think this lotion has really helped however, Dr. Know-it-all says it can make excezma worse and I should quit using it. He says I need to use plain Vaseline, which I am fine with because it is MUCH cheaper than the other.
This Dr. was just making me feel like everything I have been told is wrong, and that is very frustrating to a parent that wants nothing more than to do what is right for her kiddos.
Dr. Perfect was very disgusted with the blood allergy test results from our Dr. because he says the Lab they use does a different kind of test and its (of course) much better than the lab my Dr. uses. So they are just going to run another blood allergy test and after he explained all of this to me it really did make sense, and I was glad Carter did not have to have the pokey skin test. He was saved from any poking today, and when we go tomorrow to the oncologist they will draw his blood for this test when they put in an IV. That was the best thing that Dr. said all day.
Oh yeah and I almost forgot to tell you about the milk issue. Apparently if a child is truly allergic to cow's milk (OK so is the Dr. trying to call me a liar) he would also be allergic to goat's milk because it is virtually the same. I'm sorry the last time I checked cow's and goat's were two totally different animals. So Dr. Crazy thinks we should switch from our free goat's milk to not free soy milk. Which honestly if it is better for my baby than I don't really care how much it cost but if this is just his educated guess then yes I have a problem with it.
Sorry for the long boring post, but as you can tell this guy frustratd me.
I wasn't too nervous about tomorrow until today so please be praying that everything will go smooth and we won't be surprised by any bad news. Thank you all for your support.