Veteran's Day Eve

What do the Ries kids do when they don't have to go to school the next morning?? They stay up past their bedtime and PARTY!!

Kendall's in the top 3!!

Kendall's class is holding an election for "Teacher of the Day." Yesterday was the first we heard of it and she said she was in the top 5. She was excited, but we told her that it would be okay if she wasn't elected. Today they were to narrow it down to the top 2, but there was a tie so now there are 3. It is Kendall and there are 2 other boys. If the boys vote for the boys and the girls vote for Kendall, she just might have a shot! She is already stressing about what she is going to do because she wants to make it fun, but she also wants to make sure that her class learns something. I told her not to worry and that her teacher would help her IF she gets elected. She cracks me up!!

Halloween pictures

Can we redo Halloween night?? Carson was sick with a stomach bug and I got NO good pictures!! Here are a few of my failed attempt.

Presley's owie

Presley stopped moving her arm on Monday night. I called the doctor on Tuesday, but didn't hear back. I had an appointment today (Wednesday) for Presley's 18 month and Landon's 2 year checkup. Sure enough, her elbow was out of place. The doctor said "She is going to scream" and she manipulated her elbow back into place. We went and got x-rays just in case and I will find out the results by the end of the day. But she is finally using her arm again, so I think she is okay!!

Today's tally: Landon 24 pounds, 10th percentile for weight, 5th percentile for height.
Presley 26 pounds, 75th percentile for weight, 95th percentile for height!!

Presley had a fever, so she couldn't get her last immunization or flu shot. Since Landon is now 2, he was able to get the flu mist!! Wooo Hooo! No needles!!

UPDATE: X-rays were negative!!

Belly button!!

I love Presley's funny little belly button. It kinda sticks out like a little nose or something. I wonder who cut her umbilical cord...her birth father, a midwife? And what were they thinking? Presley had just been born with a noticeable cleft lip. I imagine there were many tears as they snipped the lifeline between their beautiful baby girl and her birth mother. She will probably hate her belly button someday, but I will always love it.

Carson Funny

I always mean to write down the funny things my kids say, so I figured it would be easier to just put it on the blog.

Carson did a poster of the City Mouse and the Country Mouse. He was showing it to us and he called it "The City Mouse and the Crunchy Mouse!!"

Presley got a hold of the fly swatter and Kendall screamed "Mom!! Presley has the fly swapper!!"

A Few More Pics

Halloween Party!!

Kendall had some friends over for a little Halloween party. We ate pizza, painted pumpkins, and started to watch a Goosebumps movie until Kendall got too scared!! So we watched Monster House instead. The girls had a great time!!

Cute Presley

Presley and Issac!!

Today Presley, Landon, and I went to visit Bonnie and her son Issac! Issac has been home from China for a couple of months. He will be 4 years old in January and he is such a CUTIE!! We were there for about 1 1/2 hours before Landon started getting tired and cranky. Issac was just starting to warm up to us about the time we left. So we are definitely going to be setting up some play dates for them!!

Random pics

The Many Faces of Landon (While he is watching Thomas)

I've been tagged!!

I've been tagged by my adoption buddy in Australia Ellie!!

7 random/weird facts about me:

1. I'm very adventurous! I've been skydiving and scuba diving and I've been on many other adventures! I can't wait until my kids are old enough to ride all the big rides at amusement parks and we can all go to water parks together!! Though for the last few years, I've spent most of my time indoors. :(

2. If you take the birth weight of my 3 biological kids and add them all up, you get 9 pounds 1 ounce. I don't know how big Presley was at birth, but I'm guessing that she might have weighed more than all 3 of her siblings put together!! (Kendall was 4.3, Carson 1.14, and Landon 2.14)

3. I had a unicycle when I was a kid.

4. I REALLY want to live in China or anywhere in Asia.

5. I can touch my nose with my tongue.

6. I love sushi.

7. I am NOT a girlie girl. I wear khaki shorts and polo shirts almost everyday. I know, I know, I am in need of major fashion help!! When I was a kid I refused to take ballet because I didn't want to wear a frilly tutu. Gymnastics was more my style!!

I know I'm only supposed to tag 7 people, but I just couldn't help myself!! I would've also tagged my new friend Gwen in Utah, but she is leaving for China on October 31 and she already has enough to do before she goes to get her new daughter!!

I'm tagging the following people. Click on their names to go to their blogs!!

Amber

Lani

Janet

Geneve

Jill

Marianne

Jodi

Heather

Bonnie

My smart boy!

I try not to brag about my kids too much unless they are within earshot, but I just have to pass this along! My 5-year-old son Carson is in kindergarten this year and he LOVES Youtube. He likes to watch Thomas, Disney Cars, and lately Indiana Jones videos. I help him type in what he wants to see. Last night he watched the cartoon Speed Racer and loved it. I was busy doing stuff and I came around the corner and he was watching Speed Racer movies on Youtube. I asked him how he did it. He found a Speed Racer car that he got in a Happy Meal a long time ago. He turned the car over and found the words (that were hard to read) Speed Racer. He then got himself on Youtube and typed in Speed Racer and found all of the Speed Racer videos!!

Now I know that there are probably many kindergartners that could do this, but it is extra special for him. He was born at 27 weeks and had a 50% chance of having learning disabilities. So far he hasn't shown signs of learning disabilities, but does have sensory issues. He has low muscle tone which has led to speech delays, fine motor skill deficits (we are hoping to be able to read his writing by the time he is in college), and large motor skill deficits (he has very weak core muscles). But those are things that he WILL overcome!! He may not be the smartest in his class (yet!!), but if there is something that he wants, he will find a way to get it!!!

BTW - We are hoping Santa brings him a Play Station 2 for Christmas. He is getting too good at the internet. We monitor what he does, but I'm not thrilled with some of the Indiana Jones videos that older kids make. They aren't horrible, but they talk about killing people and I really don't want my 5-year-old talking about killing people! At least with the Play Station it will be easier to monitor what he is exposed to.

Happy Birthday Landon!!

Two years ago today I went to my doctor for a checkup. I was 31 weeks along was being seen twice a week at that point. The blood flow in the umbilical cord was restricted. On that day, there was reverse blood flow in the cord, meaning that on the second beat of my heart, the blood was going away from Landon. So the doctor told me to head to the hospital to be admitted and he would deliver Landon the following week. When I got to the hospital they did a contraction test and Landon was showing signs of stress with each contraction. So they decided he needed to be born that night! He was a little guy weighing 2lbs 14 oz, but had quite the loud cry! Today he is still a little guy weighing in at 24 pounds, but he is very healthy! He is our explorer and is happiest when he is outside. He doesn't like to be held unless he is sick and doesn't sit still for very long unless he is reading his Thomas "magazine"...aka - toy train catalog. I love his new "receding hippie" hairstyle. It is getting quite long in the back and he has a strip of long hair in the middle of his head, but the sides of his head are still pretty bald!! He is a wonderful, independent little guy that we are so in love with!!!

Happy Birthday Landon!!!!

Feeding Time!!

I am holding a syringe of breast milk and he is being fed through his tube. He only got fed a few ccs at a time in the beginning.

This is probably my favorite NICU picture. When he was 10 days old he was transferred from Good Samaritan Hospital to Arrowhead Hospital that was much closer to our house. In this picture he is in the portable incubator getting ready to get in the ambulance.