10 Months and Vacation!

Wow! Ry is officially 10 months, which means I only have 2 months left to plan his first birthday. Not nearly enough time it feels like. I can barely get through each day accomplishing all on my list. I feel 110% guilty because I was sick yesterday and slept for almost a good 24 hours. I would literally wake up in the afternoon, breast feed Ryan, then pass back out. I have no idea why I've been so tired. It could be the heat, it could be I'm overworked and recovering from our awesome vacation, or it could be sinuses. My eyes were so itchy all week and I've been sneezing a lot more than average. Super frustrating. Which reminds me-why even invent Benadryl for anything other than a nighttime medicine? There's really absolutely no point in attempting to take it during the day to make you feel better. You don't even get to stay awake to enjoy feeling better. Such a joke. It will be nice getting to take meds that are actually helpful once I finish breast feeding. In the meantime, I slept it off and I don't plan to be sick again until winter.

Okay, back to my baby being a giant 10 month old child! He's so big!!! Not for his size. Actually, he's in the 40th percentile for weight and height, but he's losing his baby features more and more each day. He popped another tooth!!!! I can't believe it. He popped a top, side incisor. My heart literally broke when I saw it. His sweet, gummy smile always made my day and now it'll never go back. He's never going to be my gummy toothless baby and that makes me so incredibly sad (for those of you who don't know, this boy gave me major baby fever-I love this stage so much!) Of course, every step back he makes that breaks my heart G sees as a step forward towards him having a football buddy. He's way more excited for the kid stage than I am. However I stay positive and remind myself that I love Ry Ry more and more every single day which means there's no possible way that him growing up can take that away. I'm probably just insane and emotional- or a mom...

He's such a stinker! He's ALL over the place. He stands up on everything and is getting used to moving with his steps. He's going to be walking before I know what hit us. He's also getting into climbing. We don't have stairs, but we have a table that has a bottom tray that he likes to climb into. He is also a huge fan of climbing all over my lap. I wish I had an obstacle course or something for him. This Georgia heat is insane so there will be no parks introduced until at least fall. He's learned sliding. He slides his toys all over the floor from one side of the room to the doorway. And he loves the magic of gravity. Toys all get dropped over and over again.

What else is new with him? He's no longer a vegetarian! We've introduced chicken and fish which he loved. I think he loves any food we feed him. He's definitely not a picky eater, which is awesome considering how much variety I eat. Now I'll have an eating buddy who will try new recipes with me :) He did the CUTEST thing the other day. We were at a mommy and baby library reading time, and a little girl touched his head. He looked at her, looked and me, and then crawled over into my lap and sat there in a you-are-my-mommy-and-you-keep-me-safe kind of way. I'm holding onto that moment as long as I can. He really is just so precious.

We went to the doctor out here for our "9 month" check up. Long story short, he was already 10 months. All I can say is I really, really miss our last pediatrician. I forgot how... shall I say... traditional? the south is. Anchorage was WAY more my lifestyle in the sense of developing with technology and modern practice. I'm sure our doctor is fine, however he really didn't seem to be up to date with things my last dr said or any of the books I'm reading. He made it seem like it was weird that I was feeding Ry actual food 3 times a day. He still gets plenty of breast milk, so it's not like he only eats solids, but he was kind of like... oh? You're feeding him? Um... yes... like I have been for 4 months. And then he said Ry was to get the flu shot at 12 months and I told him we got it right before we came here. He was like... no, he shouldn't have gotten it until 12 months you probably had a different one. I told him no, it was the flu shot that was introduced at 6 months and we had to do it in two parts and he seemed super confused by that. Idk. Maybe Alaska was wrong about stuff, but I'm fairly confident. All I know is that the whole 9 month appointment was a huge waste. There was no point to it. That's probably why JBER said they wouldn't need to see Ry until his 12 month appointment if we were staying there. LAME.

Other new stuff: we did our FIRST FAMILY VACATION over the 4th. I know you're probably thinking: how is this the first vacation? You've been to Chena and across the whole country. How is it the first? Well, the hot springs was awesome! But it was a quick one day getaway. We didn't even leave the state. It was more of an adventure than a vacation. And as for our road trip... more stressful than anything. But this weekend was awesome! We went to Universal and stayed 3 nights in a hotel and didn't have to worry about driving, doing chores, worrying about the dogs, or spending money (we had our vacation fund saved up). It was pure relaxation and it was THE BEST. I am so tempted to start working again just so we can vacation like that every year. Totally worth it.

And we took Ry on his first rides! He went on the Harry Potter Hogwarts Express (which takes you from one side of the park to the other) and there was a screen so it looked like you were looking outside from the train, and he had a blast watching that. We also went on a carousal-he was all smiles. We thought we'd be really stressed having to switch off on rides and worry about Ryan in the heat, but it worked out perfectly. We got there early enough that most rides didn't have long lines. Since we went solo, we got to go on the single riders lane which meant we almost always got right on the ride then switched. Easy peasy. Ry loved looking at things and when he got tired, he'd sleep in his stroller. We took afternoon breaks at the hotel to avoid excessive heat and giant crowds, then came back around dinner time when things slowed down. G and I had such a blast and we think Ryan did too. Like I said, it was perfect. I look forward to so many more family vacations in the future! My boys are the best.

Okay, these posts are pretty worthless without a mommy fail so here it is: Ry and I rent books from the library every week (let's face it, reading the same books over and over gets rather dull). I grabbed a few books that looked cute (yes, I judged the books by their cover) and took them home. The first one I picked up had balloons all over it. It looked cute. I opened it up and it said something like this, "Losing someone is hard work. Dying is hard work, too." Apparently it was a book for kids dealing with a chronic illness. TERRIBLE thing to introduce to a baby! We did not finish the book. I felt so stupid-definitely a fail.

As for us, we should probably get our orders in the next couple weeks so we can have an idea of where we'll be for Thanksgiving this year. A few people in G's class already got theirs. I'm terrified. One second will completely change our lives. I really hope we don't go overseas. I'm dying to go to Hawaii, but the thought of getting three dogs overseas plus flying all day long with a little one literally makes me want to claw my skin off. I'm crossing my fingers that since we were just overseas we won't get it again. As much as I hate to say this, I'd almost rather have G get assigned somewhere overseas for a year where we can't go with than all of us have to pack and ship. I'm still not recovered from this road trip. I'm hoping for somewhere here in the lower 48. We will see what happens. I'm terrified and excited all at once.

The dogs are.... a situation. If there are two words to describe them right now it would be: vet bills. We got Belle back from the kennels with scabs all over her body. We took her to the vet and she's on meds now. 1 antibiotic 1x a day. 1 pepcid 2x a day. Plus 9 eyedrops all day long. Plus a cough. She is such a problem child. The only thing we can conclude from everything is that they all freaked out being locked up for days in a room surrounded by barking dogs. Our three are all very spoiled and pampered because they are my children and I love them very much. Denali has been extremely into Belle lately. He gets all up in her face and is constantly trying to lick her anywhere from her mouth to her shoulders to her hooha. He does not leave her alone. I've even found her hiding in her cage while he waits outside for her to come out. He's a little psycho. My poor little girl. They've never been violent with each other but that's the only thing I can conclude. The boys beat up on her. She usually holds her own but who knows what happened in a stressful situation. She seems much better now thankfully. My little princess.

No pictures because it's taken me way longer to update than I planned. I never have time for anything anymore. I can barely squeeze in a phone call most days :/ Oh, and just a note: I generally make my nights after 7:30 phone less. I usually leave my phone on the charger so I can't be reached and I can just enjoy time either alone to my own thoughts or with my hubby. I don't want static and distractions. So if I don't answer or respond, it's because my phone isn't on me-not because I hate you :) Okay BYEEEEEE.