365: 109

Monkey got to go for his first long ride in his new, forward facing car seat when we met up for a lunch and shopping date with our friends Haley and Caden today...I think the play area and shopping wore him out :). We came home and The Hubs had kicked in to cleaning mode and the house looked great (he is still home getting better from his monster pneumonia). The only thing that could make my day even better:

College football season has officially begun! They aren't even my teams but I love watching it anyway. An evening snuggle on the couch with the Hubs in a clean house watching college football....ahhh, life is good :)!

365: 108

Oh, Jack...the vet put you on a diet and you still sneak your brother's food. Oh well, perhaps you were just meant to be a plus size bruiser so go ahead and and put that hard earned gut on display for us all to marvel at. Sadly, this is how I felt on the inside after going to Olive Garden with the Hubs and Monkey today, but oh was it yummy :).

365: 107

I would like to think that I am a sweet innocent person, oblivious to world of perversion but alas, I do have a husband, brother, and other guy friends in my life and I think we'd all agree that this was a poor selection to name the top level of my work's parking garage :(

365: 106

The Hubs hasn't had much of an appetite since he got home from the hospital, he swears that nothing seems to taste quite right. So today I asked him what sounded good and his reply was, "Smores....and chinese food."

Well, one of two isn't bad :)

365: 105

So glad to have the Monkey back home! My mother in law came in and said he'd fallen asleep on the way, after he'd drank a bottle. She went to go get him and came back in carrying a drowsy Monkey whom I snatched right up. He held out his arms to the Hubs, Hubs picked him up and Monkey gave a little hiccup....then projectile vomited all over the Hubs...twice! Poor Hubs, I laugh out loud thinking about it and he still doesn't see the humor in it :).

After Grandma and Grandpa left, we headed out to a new park we'd heard lots about...and it is amazing! My camera died shortly after we got there, but I will try to get more pictures of it later. It has a huge walking track around a lake, several different playgrounds, and two tall slides build into the side of hill! But overall, swings are still #1:

365: 104

When my brother went off to college, he got a tattoo. Me, I decided on something a little less permanent and opted for a tongue ring. Following in the family tradition of body art a college necessity, my baby sis got this:

A tiny little nose ring I like to call her schnoz sparkle :).
She did tell my parents and they handled well...my father asked her where she will be staying when she comes home and let her know that all of her belongings will be in trash bags on the front lawn :).

365: 103

Since The Hubs is still recovering from his hospital stay and I had to work over the weekend, my in laws offered to pick up Monkey and take him for the weekend. Now to my brain this made absolute perfect sense, Monkey would be in great hands and have a blast seeing his cousins and other family. My heart, however, was being irrational :). I sat and rocked Monkey before his afternoon nap and couldn't stop crying. He just laid in my arms, drinking his bottle and looking at me like "Okay Lady, what is the problem here? You seem to be leaking from the face..." After he was done, when he usually puts up a good fight before giving into sleep, he instead put his head on my chest, looked up at me a few times, and quietly went to sleep. Quite a perceptive little guy. It was hard seeing him go, but he had a great weekend!

365: 102

It's been a quiet day here at the Bryan house, but given the last few days, we'll take it :). I got the results of my bone scan this week: 2 significant stress fractures. In a way, I'm kind of glad, only because I finally know what is wrong and that I am not being a big wimp. The bad thing is that I am looking at another 6-8 weeks in the lovely ortho boot. At this point, me and the Hubs combined make one healthy, functional person!

365: 101

The good news: our Hubs is finally home! He is still pretty weak and needs a lot of rest, but we are glad to have him back home with us! The bad news: time to take my mom back to the airport. Luckily she will be back in a few weeks for Monkey's birthday.

365: 100

Monkey lots lots of time with Grandma while I was back and forth from the hospital and he showed her his mad peek a boo skills :). The Hubs is getting better, still no sign of what caused him to get so sick, despite all the lab work and three CT scans. All we know is that he is feeling better and we are glad for that!

365: 99

The Hub's fever finally broke and after watching him for 12 hours, they decided to transfer from out of the ICU. Since Monkey couldn't visit him in the ICU, we brought him in to show off his new skill: saying "Dada!" He said it once when we were in the ER, but once we came home he was saying it pretty much non-stop :).

365: 98

As I was driving home to pack a bag for the Hubs and I at the hospital on Saturday, I called my folks to let them know what was going on. A few hours later my mom called back and said "Can someone pick me up at the airport tomorrow?" Yes, I cried like a baby, even at 29 years old sometime you just really want your mom :). The Hub's parents cleaned our house, mowed our lawn, and watched our Monkey and then we had my Mom around to help. We are so blessed and lucky! The Hub's fever finally broke on Sunday night, another sigh of relief! I had to take a picture of the lovely piece of flair on the Hub's breakfast tray this morning:

365: 97

On my way home from work Saturday morning, The Hubs called and told me he was having trouble breathing, felt dizzy, and his finger tips felt numb. I got home, packed up him and Monkey and headed to the Emergency Room. When we got there , he was running a temp of 103 and his oxygen level was a little low. They ran a bunch of tests and labs, started IV fluids and 2 IV antibiotics and decided to admit him. Since nothing was touching his fever, they admitted him to the ICU. Luckily, we called The Hub's folks and they came up to help out, taking Monkey back to our house so I could stay with him. His temp stayed between 101-104 for over 36 hours. I joked with him that it was a Saturday night and we had a baby sitter and this was our big night out :).

365: 96

Move in day came for my baby sis and I thank my lucky stars for the internet and digital cameras so that I could see pictures of her new home by that night :). Her campus looks beautiful, I can't wait to see it in person:

She is going to school out of state and needless to say, its landscape (namely mountains!) is just a little different than what us midwest girls are used to:

Under the weather

I am trying to keep up with a daily picture but it will be a few days before I can post them. My dear ol Hubs is in the ICU so life is busy right now. We're hoping to get him home and feeling better soon. Thanks for peeking in on us!

365: 95

I got a call from my tearful baby sister this morning, "This is going to be a lot harder than I thought," she said. She is leaving for her freshman year of college and had just had lunch with two of her good friends. I told her she didn't have to go, that she could just forget it and stay home...however all her friends were leaving and wouldn't be around, so she might as well give it a try :). Then I headed off to Target, determined to make her the best care package ever :). I am full of so many emotions (happiness and excitement for her, bittersweet for my parents as their last child leaves home), but like the song says, "Life's about change, nothing ever stays the same."

365: 94

I made these shirts on Zazzle and yes, I did steal the idea from a shirt Jon was wearing on Jon & Kate Plus 8!

365: 93

Monkey and I went to the mall today and as we pulled in to our parking space, this car pulls up across the way. A very normal looking middle age couple climbs out, the man reaches back in the car and pulls out a bottle of windex and a cloth baby diaper and procedes to shine up his car before going in. I figured if his wife had to stand in the the dripping humidity during this ritual, the least I could do was share his handiwork so everyone could appreciate it:
Oooooooooooooooooooohhhh, ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!
Ooops, missed a spot...

I did some shopping and Monkey did some fishing:

365: 92

I remember REALLY wanting a pair of Reebok pumps when I was in like 5th grade, I thought they were the coolest things ever. I was convinced that they would make me run faster and jump higher. I never did get my Reebok pumps, but today, divine intervention made it up to me. I went to the orthopedic doc about my bum foot and got put in a stylin' new boot:

That gray dot up at the top is my pump! Heck yeah! Only thing is my foot is broken so the only thing this boot with a pump is allowing me to do is limp faster and trip up the stairs with more accuracy. Oh well, I am still pretty stoked about it :).

365: 91

I am loving the Olympics this year and as much as I love the Hubs, I am enjoying looking at the US male swimmers this year too! Don't worry, the Hubs and college football are still my favorites by a long shot. It is amazing to watch these obscure sports like water polo and fencing while telling yourself, It's midnight, I really should go to bed..."

365: 90

Monkey finally has his two front teeth!

(and no, I didn't keep my little guy in the same outfit for two days, I didn't get a picture taken Saturday, I hang my head in shame. With Hubs and Monkey being under the weather and me having to go to work, we were very lucky that Grandma Bryan was able to come hang out and take of the guys while I slept and went to work!)

365: 89

Poor Hubs is sick. Not only sick, he's delerious, walking around in his hoodie complaining that it's freezing when his temp is 102. Luckily Monkey attempted to cheer him up, maybe laughter is the best medicine.

365: 88

Finally the humid weather seems to have started to let off and I feel safe taking Monkey outside for more than 10 minutes and to places other than the pool :). We are lucky enough that our county fair isn't too far from us so we headed there to check out all of the animals and such while poor Hubs was sick at home. The photography entries are the first place I want to go (surprised?) and this one was was my favorite:My favorite quilt entry:

And last but not least, the winner of most modern hairdo by a two legged animal goes to this guy:

365: 87

I had been wanting to get some recent pictures of Monkey's fingers and toes while they are still small (the last ones I had taken in the NICU, put in black and white, and are up in his room). Today, just by chance, I got a pretty good shot of both! I love in the one how he has his tongue out in sheer concentration :):

365: 86

We are lucky to have the most awesome discount bookstore, Foozles, near us (I look up the store and the only other one I found was in TN). They have all kinds of books but they have an amazing kids section with cooks ranging from $2.99 and up. One time when I was leaving, the cashier asked if I had seen the book "You Are My I Love You." I welled up reading it (I still do), and bought every copy they had. Target sells the book for $16, but I paid much, much less. Monkey and I go every so often to check it out and this week we found a very cute book called:
I loved the illustrations and the message of the story (the things that make you different make you special). I expecially loved when Solomon meets a very important movie maker, any idea who it is :)?

365: 85

Does your child find diaper changes uninteresting? Would they rather roll over and attempt to jump from the changing table than to sit through the entire procedure? Well, then may I suggest:
The Poopy Monkey!

Ahh, the magical power of distraction! We keep Poopy Monkey hanging out by the window until we need him and the 10 seconds of interest my Monkey has in him is all I need to get the job done.

365: 84

Between swimming (our first time to go with The Hubs and we had a great time!) and playing with his cousins, Monkey was one worn out little guy by the time we checked in to the hotel:

And the hotel provided one of Monkey's very favorite toys free of charge:I can't believe it's already August!

365: 83

In honor of my niece;s birthday, we decided to have a day of fun in KC and spend the night in a hotel. Here we see that despite the hundred of dollar you spend on toys your child, they find entertainment in the simplest things, like Grandma's shoelaces...

I wanted to bring some wine along to the hotel and after seeing a scary story about hotel glasses, I wanted to pack our own. I am pretty sure that this is not what they had in mind for disposable sippy cups:

but it worked just fine for me...yummmmm!!