Thursday, December 31, 2009

Sledding!

Oh, this snow is SO much fun!

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Even Baby Ryan got to come out and play! I'm not sure he was as excited as I was...

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Friday, December 25, 2009

Holko Christmas

We got to celebrate the Holko Christmas tonight. I am such a lucky boy to have these people around me. They gave me some wonderful presents, and we had such a fun time together.








After all that excitement, we came home and we got a plate of cookies ready for Santa. Mommy thought we should add some carrots for Rudolph, too. I hope Santa never sees this picture...



In the morning, I hope to come out and find MORE presents under my Christmas tree. I have been so very good, especially in the last 24 hours. I can't wait to see what Santa brought me. Mommy said she hasn't been this excited about Christmas morning in years,

And then I will have to leave all of my cool new toys and go to the airport. We are headed to Buffalo to see more people we love and have ANOTHER Christmas! How fun!

Please think good travel thoughts for us tomorrow as we try to make our way across the country (via Chicago...yuck).

Merry Christmas to all....and to all a good night!

Love,
J

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

More Christmas Carols



Grandma Susan has taught me a lot fo songs...I keep surprising mommy with new ones!

Three more days til Christmas...and Buffalo!

Love,
J

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Bust a Move

in Mommy's boots.




Sometimes, you've just gotta be silly.

Love,
J

Friday, December 18, 2009

Christmas Songs

Mommy has been trying to get me to sing my Christmas song on video and I am not cooperating. This is the best you're gonna get, I'm afraid.



"There was one, there were two, there were three little angels
There were four, there were five, there were six little angels
There were seven, there were eight, there were nine little angels
Ten little angels in the band..."

Still not real clear on some of the words, and this is the abridged version.

Merry Christmas.

Love,
J

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

A Day without a Jacob...

...is a quiet day around the house. Daddy was home with us today, kicking off his long vacation. He and I hung out on the couch together ALL day. Ahh....


Love,
Ryan

(And happy birthday to my great Grandpa Ken...we were thinking of you today.)

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Angels

Well, tonight was our Christmas Program at school. Mommy, Daddy, Grandpa Ken, and Aunt Sarah came to see the big performance.

Each class learned a song and got to sing it in front of about a million people. My class got to go first. We all lined up just like little angels. Can you spot me in the second row?

I sang so nicely and was even dancing just a little bit. My family thought I was just adorable.

And then I pushed the kid standing in front of me.

I tried to explain that it was justified. After looking at all of the pictures, Mommy DID notice that he was looking back at me in almost every single one...she does not believe that he could possibly have said anything to warrant a push on stage, but is going to give me the benefit of the doubt.

After each class sang their song, all of us got to go back up and sing together. I was right up front, so you can spot me easily in this next picture.


Luckily, there is no video footage of this one, because I'd have a hard time explaining exactly why I kept head-butting the kid standing to my right while we were waiting for the music to start. Whatever. Mommy still thought I was the cutest guy up there.

Love,
J

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Cutie Pie

Sometimes, it's nice when Jacob goes to bed. I love him and all, but after 8:00 I get Mommy and Daddy all to myself.

Here I am checking out Mommy. She thinks I kinda look like a Christmas elf.


Am I sweet or what?


Love,
Ry

Friday, December 11, 2009

Wii Dance

We went to Grandma and Grandpa Holko's house for dinner last night. It was delicious.

After dinner, Daddy and I played a few games of Wii bowling. I almost beat him (really). Take a moment to enjoy my victory dance.




And more dancing...


Hope you have a great weekend!

Love,
J

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Workin' Man

Daddy had to go in to work at night to shut down a machine. I got to go with him!

I'm not sure why people complain about having to go to work. It was fun. I got to talk to people, spin around on daddy's desk chair, and I came home with a milkshake. Not bad for a day at work!


Love,
J

98 Is Close Enough

I know there are still some people out there who are worried about me, so I wanted to share some good news that will make everyone feel better.

I've been telling Mommy and Daddy that I am just fine, but they seem to need some sort of reassurance. The home health care nurse just stopped by to check me out and make sure I'm doing fine (even though anyone who sees me should already know I am), and she weighed me, checked my temperature, asked Mommy a bunch of questions, and checked my oxygen saturation. This is that number that everyone has been concerned about since I first arrived...

Her meter said 98%!

She said this is as close to perfect as she gets on her tester.

Mommy is very relieved to have this reassurance that the hole in my heart is closing up. Since my oxygen saturation is so good, it can only mean that there is less blood flowing through that little hole...less blood = smaller hole.



Just thought I'd share.

Love,
Ry

Monday, December 7, 2009

Rain, Wind, and Cookies!

We had a rainy day! This was very exciting, since we don't get very many of these around here.

It's a good thing we don't get many of them, too, since they don't make waterproof houses in San Diego. Mommy discovered a river running into the house from the new room. We kind of expected this. What we didn't expect was the water that would pour in around the sliding doors and through the air conditioner (?). It was really fun when I was whining that I had to poo for the 5th time (before noon), Ryan was crying because he wanted a bottle, and the timer on the oven was beeping because our cookies were ready while Mommy was trying to mop up the water on the floor. Oh well, it's just water.

We still had a lovely rainy day in our pajamas. We had turkey noodle soup for dinner, then decorated Christmas cookies! I already ate all of mine. Delicious.


After that, we all snuggled on the couch for a while. Chewy chose not to join us, but here are the rest of the boys.



"OK, I kissed him. Now I'm done. "

I'll be heading to school tomorrow morning (unless they declare San Diego a national disaster area since it's actually raining here) and then Ryan AND I will go to play at Grandma and Grandpa Holko's house. They said they were up for having us both at the same time...

I hope you have a great day!

Love,
J

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Decorating Time

I am starting to get excited about this whole Christmas thing. We decorated our tree on Saturday, and daddy did some decorating outside of our house, too. It looks great! We'll post more pictures soon, but here are a few of me helping mommy decorate the tree...





Hope you had a great weekend!

Love,
J

Friday, December 4, 2009

Aw, Daddy

Last night, Mommy went to a movie with Aunt Sarah. That meant that Daddy was home alone with us for a whole hour before I went to bed. I told Mommy about it this morning. I told her that Daddy is a "funny guy" and that I got a "pig ride" around the house, and that the dogs barked and tried to chase me. This is all probably true. I don't know where Ryan was during all of this...but he seemed just fine to Mommy when she got home.

She didn't realize how stressful this babysitting event was for Daddy until this morning when I got up out of bed. What's wrong with this picture?




Mommy can't figure out how in the world Daddy even got my jammies on me this way, but it sure did make her laugh.

And here's a picture of Ryan...looking all cute dressed in pants!


This is gonna be a big weekend at our house. Now that Mommy is feeling better, she said we're doing Christmas decorating! I am VERY excited about lights. Just ask Gramma Jojo...

I hope you all have a great weekend, too.

Love,
J

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Ryan Update

We have reports from two doctor appointments to share, and they are both good!

On Monday, we went to see the cardiologist. We were hoping to hear that Ryan's oxygen saturation levels had increased, that the hole between the top two chambers in his heart had grown smaller, and that the large valve was not restricting blood flow between the top and bottom chambers.

The nurse came in and checked his oxygen saturation level, and it was at 94%! This was great news since that was better than the 89% that is was when we left the hospital. (FYI, the doctor told us that normal people are anywhere between 95-100%) The doctor came in and did an EKG. He checked the little hole and said that while there is still some blood flowing through, it has gotten smaller. He expects that it will continue to do so. He also watched the blood flow through the heart and said that the valve he was concerned about did not appear to be restricting the flow of blood from the top chamber to the bottom.

SO....everything we hoped for, happened! While the doctor said he would still like to see that little hole close up completely, we won't need to go in for another EKG again til his two-month check-up. Phew.

And today, we went in and saw the regular pediatrician. She confirmed that aside from this little heart condition, he is absolutely healthy and perfect. And that is a great thing to hear.

Just in case anyone is wondering, Ryan is a very, very sweet little guy. He eats like a pig, sleeps wonderfully, and hardly fusses at all. And luckily, he seems to really like the sound of Jake's voice...I say "luckily" because all we hear around the house lately is Jake's voice. Kid has a LOT to say!

On that note, one of my favorite Jacob quotes from the past few days was just before I left to take Ryan to the doctor. Jake looked at me and said, very seriously, "Bring my baby brother back, Mommy." At least he's not asking me to return him yet :)

Love,
Erin

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

We Love Gramma Jojo

Jacob asked me to post for him today. He said he was just too busy.

Today was kind of a sad day in our house. Gramma Jojo had to go home. I was pretty sure she was staying here...she's been here my whole life!

Here are a few pictures of us from this morning before she left. We are so lucky to have a Gramma who will come and stay with us and take care of all of us. We are going to miss her so very much, but will always be grateful for the time she spent with us here.



Then, we dropped Jacob off at school and took Gramma to the airport. Mommy only cried a little bit. She promised me that we would see Jojo again in just a few weeks.

Since my other Grandma is wonderful, too, and is picking Jacob up from school and keeping him overnight, today was just for me and mommy. I had a bath and we snuggled on the couch in a nice, quiet house. What a day!



Love,
Ryan