Week 144

I am a couple of days late writing about this week's happenings because when it rains, it POURS!  Where do I start???

Ryan...
Ryan had a dentist appointment to get 2 of his 4 cavities filled.  They gave him gas to calm him down and then a shot of Novocain.  The left side of his mouth was numb for several hours and he did not like the way it felt.  He kept chewing on his bottom lip.  Here's what he woke up to the next morning:

I don't have the heart to tell him that he has to go back in February to get two done on the other side of his mouth!

Julia...
Julia performed at her first big Irish Dancing feis over the weekend.  About 15 minutes before her group was to perform she complained of stomach and head pains, and she was burning up.  She put on a smile for her performance but immediately afterwards asked if we could go home.  She didn't even want to wait to hear the results.  We got home and I took her temperature- 101.8.  I found out the next day that she placed 3rd out of 15 contestants for her Reel step and 4th out of 10 contestants for her Jig.  Not bad for not feeling well!

Trying to be happy but feeling really miserable.  Thank you to Amanda, Karl, Elaine, and Aunt Nancy for coming to see her perform.

Jack...
Jack suffered from the Croup most of the week.  The doctor prescribed a steroid which didn't help much and I brought him back for another checkup last night.  He is wheezing so they gave us a nebulizer machine to bring home to administer Albuterol every four hours.  He goes back for a breathing checkup in a couple of days to see if the nebulizer and medicine is helping to open up his airways.

Despite the craziness and sicknesses going around, there were some fun moments for the kids.  Ryan attended a birthday party and the little girl's mom generously bought Ryan a package of GFCF cupcakes from Nature's Pantry.  They were made by a company called Food For All and were DELICIOUS!  They are based out of The Hudson Valley and sell their products in stores in the area.  If you live in the Poughkeepsie area, check out their website:  foodforall.biz

The kids also had some fun time with mommy and playing dress up with their cousins.

Little Jack Jack turned 6 months old.  Through his coughing we were able to get some photos of him by himself and with Ryan and Julia.  I just love the photo of the three of them!

DC

Day 26

Ryan turned 4 today! Many people proudly wore their Ryan Express t-shirts today. We stood out all around my school today and it was awesome to feel that kind of support!

His teachers said he enjoyed his GFCF brownies with his friends at school today. Unfortunately his cough has not improved. We took him to the pediatrician and she said it is croup and put him on a steroid medication.

Phil and I have both noticed that Ryan's memory seems improved. He is singing the words to songs that he was never able to sing before and just in general when we tell him something it doesn't go in one ear and out the other. It's nice to hear him singing songs on the way to or the way home from school!

My brother wanted to take everyone out to dinner tonight. We looked at some of the menus of local restaurants that specifically have GF menu items. We considered Uno's and Bugaboo Creek before settling on Outback Steakhouse. I was a little worried because I knew Ryan would want the french fries, but the menu specifically said that the fries are not GF. I ordered him grilled chicken and asked the waitress about the fries. She assured us that they are indeed GF because they will fry them in a separate frier and use oil designated only for GF items. So we ordered the fries (to be honest I was going to order them anyways). There was no way we were going to get him to understand why the rest of the kids were eating fries and he wasn't. All 9 of us were wearing our Ryan Express t-shirts and several employees and patrons asked us about them. I took several pictures and will post them on The Ryan Express Facebook page.

DC