Becoming a West Michiganer

We made it to Michigan. Much to my worries and stress.....it was all worth it. I was right to stress and worry about the trip...because yes I did get stuck in Chicago just like I suspected. I was only stuck in O'Hare for 6 hours but it was a very stressful and tear filled 6 hours. My flight to Kalamazoo got cancelled about 5 minutes before we were suppose to board due to fog. The next flight out wasn't until 11:25am the next morning, but my dad and step-mom drove three hours and fought the fog and came and rescued us, so we didn't have to spend the night in the airport. Which is a good thing they did, because the next morning, all the flights to Kalamazoo were cancelled. One flight made it in that night at about 6pm. So to say the least, I had to leave my luggage and pride behind in Chicago. Since they wouldn't let me get my luggage in Chicago, I wasn't so sure I would see it again...and I was mighty mad because Rykken's Moby Wrap was in my checked baggage...those who have one would understand. So two days and the same outfit later...my luggage shows up at the Kalamazoo airport....no worse for the wear. I can't express how happy I am that I got it back. When I filed my baggage claim they weren't very reassuring telling me there were 200+ people that left baggage in Chicago in my same position, but low and behold, it didn't take that long to regain ownership of my unmentionables. So we made it in one piece to Michigan, with hope that we will be able to make it back to Texas at the end of the week. Rykken did suprisingly well through the trip. He slept through the first two flights...it was like magic....the engines would come on and sleep was instantanous. Sitting in the airports was a little bit of a different story, but we faired well.

The first thing I did when I landed in Chicago was get a pizza at the airport....I wasn't impressed. Then I was hoping I would see a celebrity in the airport...yes I am a small minded small town girl. That didn't happen either. I didn't get to see any of Chicago...not even a sky line because it was dark and foggy when we left the airport...and the next morning in Kalamazoo...there was a little snow on the ground....but today it's melted and it's sunny. Looks like Texas folks...dissappointing. But, it is incredible to see the parking lots here, they all have snow mounds about 15 ft tall, from the snow plows. You don't see that in Texas. Tomorrow we are headed back to Chicago to see the sights...it will be exciting.

I am enjoying getting to spend time with family, and I am enjoying the extra help. I got to sleep in two days in a row....what what! And of course my dad and step mom are uberly enjoying Rykken. They think he is super. I have gotten to do a little bit of shopping and Rykken has some pretty cool new studs, not to mention I bought a coat I have been wanting. So I am hoping to look stylish on our trip to Chicago...I am sure I will just look like a pathetic tourist...oh well, I'm still getting a pizza.

Just Breathe

I have decided that I need an outlet to my stresses, grief, and hardships as a single mother. Most of you who will be keeping up with this blog are also familiar with my totsites blog for Rykken. I will continue to update that blog as well, but that blog will only continue to be basic updates of Rykken and his progress. This blog is going to be opening a whole new world for me and my readers into my actual daily struggles and joys as a mother, and just my life in general. So enjoy....

Sometimes I believe you just have to cry over everything and nothing at the same time. That is the running trend in my life right now. I don't think a day has gone by in the past week that I haven't sat and cried at least once. Mostly due to holiday travel stress. I must say.....if you hate packing up to go on a trip in general...wait until you are packing for yourself and a baby for a 10 day trip, one of which you will be putting yourself and your little firecracker on an airplane to Michigan. I wake up in the morning and watch the weather channel while I get ready for work keeping an eye out for the travel updates...(because you know...whats happening today will certainly affect my travel on Friday....yeah right)...but I am down right neurotic about it. So for the past two days I have been watching the interviews of all the poor souls who have been stuck in an airport for three days and I break a sweat....everytime. Really....neuroticism is just an unhealthy part of my personality...but I can't help it. So I imagine every negative airport scenario that could and most certaintly will happen to Rykken and I on Friday. So upon my added stress of just packing to go out of town, I am running through survival lists of what I would need for each possible scenario if the weather is bad and I get stuck somewhere, particulary Chicago. Let me tell you, yes a taser gun has run through my mind...seriously...if I have to sleep on an airport floor there is nothing stopping someone from trying to steal my baby during my z's. Once again my neuroticism is powerfully overwhelming. So due to my stress, which Rykken can definetly sense, he has become a wreck as well. Yesterday I picked him up from daycare around 5:30pm and he cried from then until I dropped him off at daycare this morning. Not a continual cry....but enough that I was unable to do ANYTHING, like pack so I could leave town tonight after work, and enough that I spent most of the night...very much awake listening to his whimpers. I feel so bad for him, because he can't tell me whats wrong and I don't know how to make it better, but then I get so frustrated because I am not seeing a reason as to why he is constantly crying. It is moments like these that I need to breathe and walk away, but I can't, because it's me. I don't have someone else to hand him off to and say "you figure it out". So then my emotions escalate from frustration to anger...not at Rykken, but at my situation and the person who left me to deal with it on my own. It's moments like these that cause me to break down in sobs and emotions that I can't shake, because I can't comprehend how I ended up where I am. Very much by myself and very much with the tiniest thing that I ever decided to put my whole life into. People tell me it will get easier, but I know it won't. Once one challenge is overcome another one will be presented. My life is a constant rollercoaster and even though I know things aren't going to get easier, I hope and pray that I will begin to learn how to manage my emotions and how to manage my life in general as a single parent and just a parent. Sometimes I feel like I spend more time on my knees begging God to change my circumstance, because I feel like I can't do it on my own, when I know I need to embrace what I have been blessed with and remember that God wouldn't have given me this perfect little baby if he didn't know I could do it on my own, and I keep faith knowing that my time is coming. I swear to you, my chance at peace and happiness is coming.

Happy Halloween!

Rykken's first Halloween was very fun! We didn't go trick or treating, but we went and spent some time with our friends Amy and Addison. Addison is 10 months old and she is a doll. She was a lady bug and Rykken was a cow.


Rykken has a lot of people who love him and so we got tons of Halloween goodies in the mail...including some costumes. Here are "some" not all of what we received! Enjoy!

What do you call this again?.......Oh thats right....SLEEP!

Our biggest development these past two weeks have been.....drum roll please......SLEEP! Rykken is sleeping through the night! For the past week and half Rykken has slept through the night. Last week he was going to bed around 10 and waking up around 5:30 or 6am. Which is GREAT! This week.....he has been going to bed between 9:30 and 10pm and I have been getting him up at 7:30am to get him ready for day care! Please put your hands together and pray that it continues this way....who knows how long he will sleep when I don't have to go to work....8am would be a miracle! I am SO proud of him! He is a superstar...what can I say. Rykken had his two month check up last Monday and all is well. He weighed 13lbs 4oz and was 23in long. He got four immunizations...he was very unhappy....he cried, I cried. He did well, didn't seem to be uncomfortable afterwards...so thats good. He has been sick this past week...still. He is still battling the congestion which the doctor contributes to being in West Texas...so we constantly have the humidifier running...doesn't seem to help. He also developed diarehha last Sat (you think regular newborn poop is bad...) so I have been dealing with that and the diaper rash. He has horrible diaper rash from the diarehha and it is so frustrating! I have tried several diaper rash creams...the only one that I have found that seems to be making a difference is A&D ointment. I took him back to the doctor on Monday and the doctor said there is nothing they can do for him...that its viral and he will just have to ride it out. He has lost 3oz since his two month appointment, but he is not dehydrated and he is eating well and not spitting up or vomitting...his little toosh is just not happy! He is a trooper though and amazingly enough has not been anymore fussy than usual. I went through all of his clothes and already packed up a big box of newborn clothes that he can't fit into anymore...it is so amazing how fast they grow...half of what I packed he never even wore. Rykken is really starting to become vocal...he coos and grunts a whole lot....and I mentioned last time that he has found his hands and has started sucking on those more, yesterday when I got off work and I went to get his carseat out of the car, he was just sitting there with one of his hands held up in front of his face and he was staring so intently at it while he was moving his hand around. I seriously sat down in the backseat and sat there and watched him for a good five minutes. You just don't realize how amazing these little babies are and how inquistive they are until you watch them discover something new. Watching him slowly discover that his hand is his, is just...I don't know...incredible! The silliest and most simple things make you so proud and so happy!