The protocol is sedation

Does everyone just LOVE the newly re-designed blog? I spent a lot of time on this and am quite proud!! Here's the scoop...Ryan has another appointment scheduled to see Dr. Hor in December. He only sees patients on Mondays and she has to get an echo done every 3 months. Since her last echo was with sedation on September 4, she needs another one. The hospitals protocol is to give mild sedation with their echo's for children under 4 years old. When she saw her old doctor at the outpatient office, they didn't do sedation. So, Ryan is scheduled on Friday December 4th at 8:00 am for a sedated echo. She will then see Dr. Hor on Monday December 7th at 10:50 am for an EKG and follow up exam. Since his schedule fills up so quickly, I might call back next week and go ahead and schedule her for March as well. That would probably be a pretty good idea.

In the mean time..it's almost Halloween!!! Can you believe it's almost here? I love this time of year. I love the leaves changing color and the nice breeze we get on a sunny day. I could do without the illness and germs all over the place but hey, I guess you have to take the good with the bad. I want to hear what everyone's kids are being for Halloween. I'm sure I will see pictures later and I really look forward to that!! What is your little guy(s), girl(s) being this year? In case you didn't read the other post, Ryan is being a punk rock girl, and Josh is being Michael Jackson. I cannot wait!!!

I also want to hear about everyone's pumpkins!! I love pumpkin carving and I just think they look really nice when they are lit. We have our one big pumpkin with the spider carved in it, and Ryan also has her Mr. PUMPKIN head. (complete with Mr. Potato head pieces.)

Ryan still has a runny nose. She had the fever of 102 last week, which thankfully went away with 2 doses of meds but the runny nose just wont stop. I believe its draining to her throat now because the cough is getting pretty nasty but only at night. Of course!!! I'd rather her cough through out the day so it didn't wake her up all night. Poor girl!! I keep trying to get her to say "trick or treat" but the only part she says is "or tweat" lol. She tries so she gets an A+ for effort!! Maybe eating some Halloween candy will make her nose stop running?? HAHA....wouldn't that be strange??

I'm not sure if I will have anything to blog about between now and Saturday so if not, I really hope everyone has a VERY SAFE, VERY HEALTHY, and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!! I cannot wait to see everyone's pictures after!!

UNDER CONSTRUCTION!!!

PLEASE BARE WITH ME...I am making changes ONCE AGAIN to this blog. When you view the page, you will notice things don't look right or match and it will look pretty crazy but I am working on making changes and hopefully I can stop changing my mind and keep it designed one way. HAHA. I hope everyone is having a great week!!!

Today, we received the gift of HOPE

Has anyone ever given you a gift that changed your life? It can be ANY kind of gift at all. Something material, or something not? Our children are blessings and gifts with bows on them bigger than we ever thought possible!! When you receive the news that you have a sick child, let's be honest, you don't think of that as a gift right? I know I didn't, but I do now. Well, what happens when you get the GREATEST gift of ALL other than the birth of your baby? We received that gift today and I cried tears of JOY. Today, we received a gift that will change our lives and how we live it. We received the gift of HOPE!!

At 9:00 am this morning, we took Ryan to Children's Hospital for a second opinion on her heart. We met Dr. Kan Hor for the first time and listened closely to what he had to say. As most of you know, we had some issues with her regular cardiologist because our questions were not being answered thoroughly and it made us very uncomfortable. For the FIRST time since her diagnoses, almost 2 years ago, we got the answers we have been looking for.

This is Dr. Hor, and he has changed our lives for the better.

We knew this appointment was going to go well as soon as he walked in the room. He scared Ryan when he first came in because she was standing by the door. He looked at her and said "WOAH....I'm sorry little missy, let's try that again." He then went back out of the room and shut the door behind him. He slowly opened it again and barely stuck his head through. He gave Ryan a BIG smile and simply said "peek-a-boo beautiful." She gave him a HUGE smile back with a little giggle in the mix. For those of you that don't know, this is so great because every time she has seen her previous doctor, nothing was ever done to make her smile or laugh. It was pretty much like she would come in, tell us results, say to come back in 3 months, and out the door she went, as quickly as possible. We could tell right away, that's not how this doctor was which automatically made us feel better about him. He shook our hands and then sat down and started talking to us about personal things. He said he had a 21 month old daughter at home and another baby on the way, and then asked if Jay and I were planning on having any more kids. Even if he didn't really care, it was nice that he acted that way. He made us feel like he wanted to get to know the people caring for our precious heart baby. He wanted to listen to Ryan's heart first so instead of just sticking her on the exam bed and pulling out his stethoscope, he had her sit in my lap, and he had her help him to make it more fun for her. He let her hold it, and then just guided her hand around her chest where he needed to listen. We could tell she thought it was really cool that instead of not being able to touch anything, she got to help.

One of our biggest questions that we've always had is "if you know she needs surgery at some point to fix her valve, why can't you just do it now and get it over with? That way she won't remember it." In the past, this question was answered with a simple "that's just not the way we do things." OK...but WHY is that NOT the way YOU do things? He was able to REALLY answer us today. Dr. Hor explained that they don't typically repair a valve. If they do surgery on Ryan NOW and replace her valve with an artificial one, she will outgrow it probably within the next 5 years. This will lead to ANOTHER valve replacement by the age of 8, the latest. Once that surgery is done, she will outgrow that valve probably around the age of 17, the latest. With each surgery, the risk becomes greater and greater. Every time surgery is done, she is put on bypass and given a strict regimen of meds to take daily for 2 whole months AT LEAST. Insead of giving her around 5 surgeries by the age of 30, why now wait AS LONG AS POSSIBLE and only give her ONE....MAYBE TWO?? Well, that makes GREAT sense to me!!! Although Ryan's balloon that she had on January 9th didn't do what they wanted it to do, it did improve her heart somewhat. Her gradient at that time was 55. After the procedure, it dropped down to 29. They had hoped, and with the statistics, that it would go down to between 0-5. It obviously didn't do that, and since then, her gradient has gone back up to 39. She's borderline mild and moderate right now as far as the severity of her disease. Our hopes are that she will stabalize, but if that doesn't happen, once the number get's back up to around 50 (the severe range) Dr. Hor said he would want to try another balloon. This is something her previous doctor told us would be a waste of time since it "didn't work" the first time. Dr. Hor's take on that is, "it will buy her more time." If they do another cardiac cath, they can knock her numbers back down, even if it's just a small amount, to keep her out of the severe range of stenosis. By doing a cardiac cath every time her numbers jump back up, they are able to keep her at a number that is good enough to keep waiting on surgery. He said that the ideal situation for us right now would be to be able too wait at least 10 years before surgery. Even though that will be harder on her physically and mentally, it would be the best thing to do for her. Why couldn't anyone ever tell us this before?? YA GOT ME!!

It all makes sense now. It's not "just how they do things." They have a REASON..and ACTUAL REASON for this, and it is to benefit Ryan. It's amazing when someone gives you a breath of fresh air and gives you HOPE for your childs future. We were also told that Ryan would never be able to play sports. Today, we were told that her body will not do more than it is capable of doing. If she wants to play sports and get involved, she can do so, as long as we as parents, and her realize that she does STILL have heart disease and that if she feels like she needs to take a break or stop doing something, that's what will happen. But, she can TRY. I've never felt this GOOD about a doctor. He made us feel so comfortable and I just cannot get over how great the appointment went.

He did tell us that even though this is good news and that we now have a PLAN for Ryan, she does still have a CHD. We need to keep in mind that she will be different than other kids. If she gets sick, we need to keep her at home and away from extreme germs. We still have to watch her and make sure her breathing is ok. This is something that will ALWAYS need to be done and we're JUST FINE with that. It's just so nice to hear though, that this doctor has great HOPES for Ryan. It could still very well happen that she needs surgery sooner than 10 years. If her numbers jump back up, and they do a cardiac cath that doesn't make the numbers go back down, then it will be time to discuss other options at that point. But, until that day comes, we are going to breathe a little easier and probably sleep a little better.

After this amazing appointment today, Jay and I both decided that Ryan will no longer see her previous doctor. We just felt way to good about the one we saw today. Since she didn't get an echo today, and still needs one every 3 months, we will be taking her back to see Dr. Hor in December to get her echo done and discuss the results with him, the man that has given us te gift of HOPE.

Here is Ryan playing with the "stickers" from her EKG...she thought it tickled when she would stick them on and pull them off. SILLY GIRL.

Her favorite thing about seeing the cardiologist....NO CLOTHES!!! She can run around in just a diaper and be REALLY happy doing it.

OTHER NEWS:

Our team, HEALING HEARTS, raised $500.00 for Cincinnati Children's Hospital Cardiology Department. There is still not a total raised OVERALL but I will let you know when I do. We did pretty good, but am hoping to at least double it next year. In the mean time, I'm starting to work on getting Ryan's birthday party planned, and trying to get a little Christmas shopping done at a time. WISH ME LUCK!!!

I want your comments!!! Let me know of a gift that you have received that just MADE YOUR DAY. It can be ANYTHING. Or more than one thing. Something you may or may not still have, but that you will NEVER forget.

Just a little something....

I don't really have a whole lot to update on. Ryan came down with a fever of 102 on Friday but it went away after 2 doses of meds. THANK GOD!! She has had a runny nose for a few days but it seems to be getting better. We had a little scare but I guess things are ok now.

We had a pretty relaxed weekend. On Saturday, me, Ryan, my cousin Katie, and her mom went to look at a flower girl dress for Ryan to wear in Katie's wedding. We were pretty excited because we got a GREAT DEAL on this dress. She looks so precious and like a little bride. It's a little bit big on her now, but thats ok because the wedding is not until March.

Don't you just love it??? I sure do. The color of the sash will be changed to match our bridesmaid dresses which are a color called Sangria. It's like a deep fuschia I guess you could say. It's very pretty though.

Today was also pretty relaxing. With Ryan being sick I went to the grocery store by myself while she stayed home with Daddy and napped. Earlier though, we carved our pumpkin here at home on the deck. Once again, Ryan wouldn't touch it. She kept saying ewww. HAHA. Oh well, maybe next year she will get into it. But, with her love for spiders, it was only right for me to carve a spider into her pumpkin.

It turned out really good I think. It was sort of hard to do because the legs on it are so skinny that I kept having to using the pumpkin carving saw to scrape the inside of the legs more so the light would shine through. I cannot wait for Halloween!!

Well, I guess that's it for now. Just wanted to give you guys a little something. Wish us luck tomorrow because tomorrow morning is Ryan's appt for her 2nd opinion. We are to be at the hospital at 9:00 am. I will update tomorrow with what this doctor has to say. I sure do hope everyone had a GREAT weekend!!!

A splash of color....LOVE THIS!!!

Does anyone else just LOVE LOVE LOVE black and white photo's? I sure do. But what happens when you add just a SPLASH of color? I think pictures like this are beautiful. NO matter what it is a picture of. Here are some pictures I did of Ryan with just a touch of color.

I would also like to ask a favor from everyone. Jay and I are both VERY unsure of the H1N1 vaccine. If anyone can please share any information with us that would be greatly appreciated. If you guys have any links you could leave in a comment, or any personal experience with the vaccine, please let me know. Ryan's nurse said she SHOULD have the vaccine, but it is not yet available to us. On the news today, they had a map of the US and the states that were colored in RED had the highest rate of people infected with the virus. Well, Kentucky was one of them, yet we do not have the vaccine yet. That really boggles my mind. Thanks for any info that you can share!!! I'm not sure I will ever feel comfortable with Ry getting the shot, but the more info, the better. :)

Dirty your knees!!!

Before I get started on the prayers that are needed....I want to share Ryan's 2 year photos. They are a bit fuzzy but that is because I took a picture of a picture due to us not having a scanner. She hasn't been to get her pictures taken in a while so I was not sure how she would do, especially now that she has her attitude that goes with her ALMOST 2 years of age. She had a few moments where she would run away and try to play with the toys that the photographers have and she insisted on playing instead of looking cute. :) They were able to get some pretty good shots though.

I LOVE these!! The second one is my favorite. Her hair was a little crazy as you can see with her "wings" sticking out on each side. Oh well, I still think she is gorgeous!!! and I cannot believe she is almost 2. Us heart mom's know that it's not just a birthday, it's a celebration of life. At the same time, it's a reminder of the little ones that are no longer with us, and our hearts will FOREVER be with them and their families.

Monday night, while at my mom's house, my mom decided she wanted to carve her pumpkin. We thought it might be a little early but that's ok. I was expecting and hoping that Ryan would just dig right in and really enjoy it. I was SO WRONG. She wouldn't go near that thing!! I tried to get her excited about it by telling her we were carving a kitty cat into it but she didn't seem to care at all. She kept saying "ewww" and "no." I wasn't trying to force her into it, but I wanted her to just see what it felt like. She wanted no part of it, so we just did the gutting and carving ourselves. She has ALWAYS been this way though. If she gets dirt on her hands outside, she will find the closest person to wipe them off for her. It's not normal for a 2 year old to not like getting their hand dirty, but that's just her. She's too much like me sometimes. lol

What a beauty huh?!?! haha. The pic is a bit blurry but you get the idea. Since Ryan likes spiders so much, we are going to carve a spider into our pumpkin either this weekend or sometime next week.

Since Ryan doesn't enjoy the experience of the slimy pumpkin, we decided to just dress up her little pumpkin that our neighbors gave her after they grew them in their yard this year.

This little guy looks AMAZING!! ha. She thought this was great. If ANYONE wants to avoid the mess and still make it fun for kids, just get out the Mr. Potato head accessories. Since the pieces are plastic and not strong enough to push into the pumpkin, use a phillips screwdriver first. Push the screw driver into the pumpkin to make the holes where you want them, then the plastic pieces will fit right in. I'm getting so excited for Halloween and cannot wait to see EVERYONE's pictures of all the kids.

Ok, it's time to get your knees dirty. Baby V needs EVERYONE's prayers!! She was admitted to the hospital last night and her O2 sats were dropping down to the 50's. PLEASE KEEP HER IN YOUR PRAYERS THAT SHE CAN PULL THROUGH. She has been through so much already. We all hope she has the strength. For more info on Baby V, please visit www.kargfamilyupdates.blogspot.com.

I am working on some colorsplash pictures that I am going to post soon. Hope everyone has a great day!!

Fall Firsts

Ok, so something MAJOR is going on with our computer. I'm currently at my mom's house using her computer. I am able to post a new update on mine, but it will not allow me to add pics. That is just NOT going to work.

So, we had a really nice weekend other than the snow flurries we had Friday night. UGH!! I'm NOT ready for snow but it looks like it's coming sooner than we'd all hoped. This week is supposed to be nice though. Today I think it's gotten to about 65 degrees. AWESOME!! Sunday was nice enough for us to take Ryan to the pumpkin patch for her first time ever. She has been talking about pumpking A LOT, just because she is seeing them everywhere now. Just and FYI also....Stefenie guessed Ryan's Halloween costume...she's going to be a punk rock chick!!! GREAT GUESS STEF!! I guess the picture of the pink hair sort of gave it away. lol

Anyways...back to the pumpkins!! We've never been to the patch by our house so we were excited to go. It is called Daniel's Farm and they have a petting zoo, playground, and a hayride to the pumpkins. Ryan was excited as soon as we got out of the car!!

She was even more excited to see that they had made something that just happens to look like her FAVORITE THING IN THE WORLD.

She played on the playground and of course was very excited about the slide. When we first got there, they give you cups of food to feed the baby animals with. I wasn't sure how I felt about that because of the germs but they had HUGE bottles of hand sanitizer set up ALL over. That was a NICE relief.

After feeding the animals, it was time for the hayride to the pumpkin patch.


When we got off the hayride, she just went crazy!!! She was trying to run ALL over the place and grab EVERY pumpkin. She soon realized they are pretty heavy. HAHA. We weren't actually going to purchase a pumpkin because we already have a rather large one at home, but we just wanted to see her in the moment.

We had a great time and she missed her nap in order to go, so needless to say, she was EXHAUSTED afterwards.

Sleeping on the couch!!

Just and FYI, I changed Ryan's appointment for her 2nd opinion. Jay's insurance at his work is changing on November 1rst to give us a $4000.00 deductable. Right now, we only pay a $20.00 co-pay for a PCP AND specialist. So, this change is going to cause some major issues for us, which is why I changed Ryan's appt to October 26th. The more we can get done by the end of the month, the better off we are. I will, of course keep everyone posted as to what the Dr. says. Hopefully it is all good things.

Even though Ryan's birthday is not until December, I am taking her tomorrow for her 2 year pics. I figured they would probably fill up the appt book pretty quickly with Fall/Winter appts. Her looks wont change between now and December, so I'm getting it done now. I will try to scan a copy and let everyone see.

I hope everyone is having a great week and also had a great weekend.

Am I bitter and angry?? NO WAY!!!

I get questions from people all the time about being a heart mom.



Aren't you bitter?



Are you angry that GOD chose this life for you and your daughter?



Don't you ever just feel like you want to give up hope?



What happens next?



Will Ryan ever play sports?



Well, allow me to answer these questions for everyone. I am FAR from bitter and angry. Ryan is a blessing, not a burden. I am grateful EVERY DAY that I have her. Do I get stressed when she has a bad attitude and thinks SHE is the one that runs this house? YES. I'd be lying if I said it was easy and I take it all in stride because it's NOT easy. She acts the way every child that's almost 2 acts. She gets wild and crazy, and her favorite words are NO and MINE. People don't understand how I have the strength to cope with having what is considered to be a "terminally ill child." Without trying to sound stuck up, I've always had a little bit of strength. Even before I was blessed with Ryan. She has given me so much more though. We've never gone to church, although we all believe VERY MUCH in GOD. I don't think you have to attend church to believe in HIM and have faith that HE is carrying you through.



I will NEVER give up hope and I will NOT just lay down and die. My baby and her heart NEED me. Have you ever felt NEEDED? not just wanted or desired or loved...TRULY NEEDED? Her life depends on our strength, hope and faith. If I give up, who is going to have hope for her? Nobody. She's means EVERYTHING in this world to me, and I am NEEDED by her. I always will be, and I will ALWAYS have hope for my baby.



As far as what happens next....who knows? We do know that Ryan will ONE day have surgery to either repair or replace her pulmonary valve. We do not know when that day will be...although we wish it could be while she's younger and doesn't understand as much. According to Dr. Lee, surgery could be as early as next year, or it could be in 3 years....but she's 95% sure it will happen BEFORE Ryan is 5 years old. Ryan will also MOST LIKELY never be able to play sports. With how winded she gets and how easily fatigued she always is, sports are probably out of the question. I took her to a try-out for a toddler tumbling class that was supposed to last an hour....she made it 20 minutes before she could barely breathe. We had to sit aside for her to catch her breath, and then we left to never return. That was a BIG reality check as to what she can and cannot do. A lot of rides at festivals and amusement parks have signs on them that CLEARLY state "DO NOT RIDE IF YOU HAVE ANY FORM OF HEART DISEASE OR HEART TROULE." I used to NEVER read those signs on things that I rode but now I have to. A CHD child does change your life FOREVER....but it can change in some amazing ways. You realize just how much love your heart can hold, and how much faith you REALLY do have.

URGENT PRAYERS NEEDED.....

Urgent prayers are needed for Baby Cassiana. (www.carepages.com/carepages/babycassiana) She is going in tomorrow morning between 8:30 and 9 to have the Glen Surgery done. Please keep her and her family in your prayers tonight and tomorrow that she makes it through surgery and makes a speedy recovery!!!! In order to be at the hospital with their daughter, her parents had to arrange childcare for their other children. Please stop by their page to leave an encourging message. I'm sure they will appreciate the support!!!!

On a much lighter note, I took this video of Ryan today and thought it was too funny. It cannot
wait until I do another update....this is a good one!!!

In need of prayers and ideas please.....

So I know I just updated yesterday but I found out about this last night. A friend of mine's 10 year old niece has been diagnosed with Alopecia Areata. Basically, it is just a disease that causes hair loss. She has lost all of the hair on her head, her eyebrows, and her lashes and it will never grow back. Please keep her and her family in your thoughts and prayers. I couldn't imagine being any age and going through this, let alone a 10 year old. Her name is Hunter stidham.

Another person in need of prayers is 10 year old Jailyn Hayes. Jailyn was admitted to Cincinnati Children's Hospital for severe abdominal pain and her appendix ruptured. She is now in critical condition and is having some internal bleeding, as well as in the early stages of kidney failure. Please pray for Jay also!!

I need ideas now....

I, personally, have no hosted a benefit. My friend, Jessica, would like to have a benefit for Hunter. There is a certain type of wig that Hunter wants and they are very expensive. Her insurance will not cover any of it and when her parents went to locks of love, they were informed that they only make wigs for cancer patients. If anyone could PLEASE give me any ideas and tips on hosting a benefit, I would GREATLY appreciate it. We need all the info we can get, from food catering, to locations, to fundraising games. (split the pot, silent auction, etc.) I look forward to hearing your ideas. If you dont want to comment here, please email me at rysmom07@yahoo.com THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!

Walking for kids.....

Yesterday was a busy day here in the tri-state area of Cincinnati. We actually live in Northern, Ky but we are only about 10 miles south of Cinci. We met our team members for team HEALING HEARTS at Coney Island and we were ready. Cincinnati Walks for Kids 2009 was a huge success. There were over 5,000 people that walked and this was Cincinnati Children's Hospital's 4th year doing this walk. The turnout was amazing. This was our 1rst time walking and we couldn't believe the amount of people. It was so nice to see that many people caring.

A few of our team members ended up being ill at home so we had 10 people on our team that walked. Well, 2 of them rode in their strollers. Boy did they have it made? haha. The walk was scheduled to begin at 10:00 am but once the opening ceremony was done, we begin moving at 10:30. It was very cold early in the morning and Mr. Sunshine didn't decide to show up until around 12:30. At least he came though. Ryan was in her stroller with pants, a long sleeve T-shirt, her team t-shirt, and a hoodie on with a big blanket over her legs. I had gloves on because my fingers were frozen. Once we got to walking though it warmed up enough to wear we didn't feel like ice cubes. I think when we first got there it was only about 50 degrees. It warmed up to about 60 later in the afternoon.












The walk was 3 miles and it took us about an hour. Once we got to the finish line, everyone was awarded with a walkers medal and we stayed in line to eat our lunch that was provided to us. Once we were done eating, it was on to the kids carnival!!!

They had a giant slide, a tilt-a-whirl ride, a scream machine, and a carousel for the kids to ride. They also had face painting which I was very excited about because Ryan has never had her face painted before. I was curious to see how well she would do.


We made our way to the rides and Ryan got to ride the Carousel with her friend Cheyenne. I also went down the giant slide with her. She really loved them both!!!











Once we got done with the rides and the Harvest Hangout....I made sure to stop by the remembrance garden to honor a fellow heart mom and her son. Ethin Twigg received his Angel Wings on June 27, 2009. Here, we placed a flower in the garden in memory of Ethin.



Next, it was on to attempt face-painting. I figured it we got Ryan excite about it somehow it would be easier for her to go along with the idea. What better way to get her to sit still then to tell her she will get a spider painted on her cheek? I just happened to catch her reaction when she looked at herself in the mirror. PRICELESS!!



And her reaction after she realized what it was.......



Our total collected for the walk was right around $500.00 but the total of overall donations to the hospital has not yet been calculated. I'm sure it will take some time to get a total but once I do I will be sure to let you know. We had such a great time and cannot wait to do it again next year.

This is a better picture of what our shirts looked like.






I have another clue to Ryan's Halloween costume, but this one includes a picture...we did a practice run to see what it would look like.....the clue is....BRIGHT PINK HAIR. Keep guessing...I want to know what everyone thinks the answer is....here is the pic...





Ryan also has a new spider decoration thanks to her Me-Me (my mom) and she LOVES IT. It is currently hanging from our entertainment center in the living room and has yet to be given a name.





She loves this new spider.....I mean she really just loves ALL spiders. I am leaving you guys with a short video of Ryan dancing right before we crossed the finish line. She loved that they had big speakers with music just blaring out of them...so turn your sound up and ENJOY!!!









alisha

A walk in the park.....

I realized that on my last post I didn't give another clue to Ryan's halloween costume and I forgot to mention the news on her next check up. Silly me....too much to think about. I finally did get a response from cardiology and she will be seeing Dr. Hor at the hospital instead of outpatient on November 16 for a second opinion. He may just end up being her new doctor if we like him well enough. That would be nice. I have never met him before but am looking forward to hearing someone else's opinion of Ryan's situation.

The second clue to her Halloween costume is:

Funky Tights

HA....I'd like some more guesses.....I know Stefenie you didn't have a guess last time so let's see if this clue helps at all. I'm looking forward to your comment. :)

This past weekend was a busy one of course. Saturday there was a family reunion for Jay's mom's side. It was at one of the park's somewhat close to home. Even though it ended up being pretty cold, we still had a good time. Ryan was very excited to see the slides as soon as we got there. Josh ran right over to the open field where his cousins were all playing football. He was there almost the whole time. Ryan was able to play in the playground area with her younger cousins.

This is Ryan and Mason rocking back and forth. These 2 have quite the love for eachother. They are always following eachother around and trying to sneak away to get into trouble. haha

WEEE....Sliding is so much fun!!! She must have done this 100 times.

Hey....what are you guys doin over there???

Hmmm....what should I do next??

Of course, with every fun day, some kind of injury just HAS to occur. Ryan was climbing up a ladder to get on the playset and lost her balance. She fell and turned herself around and hit her mouth on the ground and bit her lip at the same time. I picked her up just in time to see the pool of blood drip from her mouth. There was so much of it that I could barely see her teeth. I, of course, did the check on all teeth to make sure none were loose. She was fine after a few minutes and went back to playing after we got her all cleaned up. Poor girl....it seems like everytime she gets hurt, it's her face that suffers. It can never be a bump or bruise on her arm or leg. As long as nothing gets broken I guess we should be thankful that she's always ok after.

Ryan hadn't had a nap all day Saturday so when we left the park, which was a little late, she was exhausted. We came home and I fixed dinner. I wasn't sure she was going to make it through eating. She got a bath and went straight to bed.

On Sunday, we went to Kayleigh's birthday party. Sunday was an amazing day outside. The warmest one we've had in almost a month. They had a bouncy house set up outside so the kids could jump away all the sugar from the cake and ice cream....GREAT IDEA!!!! We had a lot of fun except Ryan got upset when I wouldn't let her open the presents. I tried to explain to her that her birthday is in 2 months and we would have a party for her with presents. She really didn't have any idea what I was saying and it didn't work. She was MAD!!! I was so thankful when all the gifts were opened and it was time to move on to something else. HAHA.

The walk for Cincinnati Children's Hospital is this Saturday! It's finally here. Our shirts are not back yet but maybe will be done tomorrow or Thursday should be the latest. I'm excited to see how they turn out. There are 15 people on our team HEALING HEARTS!!!! There are over 4,000 people TOTAL walking the 3 miles. There is also a kids fest going on until 2 pm where there will be face painting, a harvest hangout (for pictures) a remembrance garden, some small rides and a craft corner. I cannot wait to go and see it all. This is our first year doing the walk so we are all very excited to see everything. I want to thank everyone for making your donations and for those people walking on our team as well. It's so nice to have all the support!! I still do not have an exact total for our team yet but hopefully will this weekend. It's not too late to make a donation so if you would like information on how to sponsor our team, please email me at rysmom07@yahoo.com and I will give you the info on how to go to the web site to make a donation.

I will have another update this weekend with pictures from the walk!!! Have a great week everyone!!!