First Day in EPS 1 & Memorial Day Weekend

Riley and Ryan started in their new class (EPS 1) last Tuesday. They are really growing up! I snapped a few photos of the big kids before school that morning. The big changes for this class are that they no longer use sippy cups. They drink out of real cups only! I think it's great, but I assured their teachers that we would not be doing that at home just yet. We will give it a shot at meal time, but all I visualize is milk and juice spilled all over my house. They are also now "downstairs". All the younger classrooms are upstairs, so moving downstairs is a milestone. There is an elevator, which I think we will utilize, but our first day I tried to let them go down the stairs. I ended up carrying both of them together. That's over 50 pounds! I think I will wait on the stairs until they have mastered that concept. The good news is that the elevator is right outside their classroom, so it is easy access.

After the incident with Riley on Wednesday, we kept them home on Thursday and the school was closed for a teacher workday on Friday, so we had a 5 day weekend! Sounds fabulous, but it was a tough weekend. Kevin was sick all weekend (still not feeling all that great) so Riley, Ryan and I spent a lot of time together. They were so good, but it is so incredibly exhausting keeping 2 19 month olds entertained for 5 days. Did I mentioned it rained at some point every day? We weren't able to spend a lot of time outside and they like to "go". We made it to swim lessons on Saturday morning...Aunt Lori went with me in Kevin's place and then I got to sneak off for a much needed massage. My whole body ached from the stress of the week, so I was able to relax for an hour and a half! What a treat! On Saturday night we hosted a party in the neighborhood at our clubhouse, but Kevin was still too sick to join us, so I went solo. It was so much fun, but we missed Kevin terribly! I don't think I've been to a party without him in years?!?!

Kevin was feeling better on Sunday, so we met Gramma for lunch and then after nap we went to Piedmont Park. It was tons of fun for them to just run and play! They loved the playground there and climbed on everything they could find. They slid down the slides all by themselves like big kids. After the park, we finished the afternoon with a visit for Coldstone for ice cream! What a fun family time together.

Here's the video I put together (forgot the camera in the car, so no pictures - ugh!):

On Monday (Memorial Day), the Fenzls hosted a cookout. Kevin took a turn for the worst after the ice cream, so he didn't join us again. I felt so bad for him. He just camped out in the basement all day eating crackers and drinking gatorade. We had a fun afternoon with lots of good food (bbq ribs, chicken, beans, potato salad, apple pie and ice cream). Does it get much better than that?

This is a picture of the crew from the neighborhood (unfortunately w/o Kevin). We had both sets of twins there as well as the Fenzl "big kids" - oh yeah and the adults were there too! Fun, but totally exhausting weekend! Looking forward to seeing Kenny Chesney on Thursday night!

We have the appointment with the neurologist on Monday, June 1st. I will post the outcome of that visit as soon as we know something.

Web Albums Added:
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20090518FirstDayInEPS1#
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20090522MemorialDayWeekend#

Our Big Scare

As I've said in the past, this blog is my way of keeping a "journal" of sorts of the happenings of Riley's and Ryan's lives. The week to week happenings and events. Although Wednesday was a day we would all like to forget, I want to record it here as it is an important chapter in Riley's life. We are so thankful that things turned out the way they did and realize how quickly "life as we know it" can change! This is the email I sent out to our friends updating them on Wednesday:

We have had a very tough day today. Ryan has been sick, so we had arranged for my mom to be here today to stay with him. When Riley got up she was a bit fussy so we decided to keep her home today too. About 1030 this morning, Riley had a seizure. My mom was right there with her and couldn’t have handled the situation any better. They were walking up the stairs and Riley just stopped. My mom picked her up and she was stiff. She instantly knew something was wrong and got her to the kitchen floor and she began seizing. I can’t imagine what that experience was like, but I’m so thankful she called 911, got her on her side and kept her safe until the paramedics arrived. By the time I got home I hopped into the ambulance and we headed to Scottish Rite. She was lethargic and even slept in the ambulance (which is so unlike her), but eventually perked up soon after we got to the ER. They did a CT scan and there are no tumors or bleeding on the brain. Praise God! The doctor told us that a “first time seizure” is very common and many times children never have another episode. We will follow up with a neurologist tomorrow and hopefully get her seen within the next week. We were home by about 400 today and once the sedative wore off that they gave her for the CT scan, she was totally back to normal. Ryan seems to be much better too! They ate a good dinner and went down for bed right on time – we’re hoping mommy and daddy aren’t far behind them! We may never know why she had this seizure, but we are eternally grateful that everything turned out the way it did today. I have no doubt that God was watching over all of us every step of the way…even in our decision to keep her home today when she wasn’t really even sick yet. Please keep her in your prayers as we proceed with the neurologist and pray that we will get a perfectly clean bill of health for her.

Thank you for all the people that pitched in today and called us out of concern when you saw the fire truck and ambulance at our house (I had 3 calls before I even got home!), didn’t think twice and took Ryan and kept him totally safe and happy so we could be with Riley, locked up our house, moved my car out of the street (not even sure I put it in park when I pulled up!), got our dogs settled, brought us a car seat to the hospital, brought us dinner, called, emailed, texted, and most of all prayed. You know who you are! We are surrounded by the greatest friends in the world! I’m sure there was more than this that went on to help us that we don’t even realize. Thank you thank you thank you!

This is the follow up email I just sent tonight:

I wanted to check back in to give you an update… I’m sorry I haven’t been able to return every call and email. I’m totally exhausted. We made an appointment for Riley with a pediatric neurologist for Monday, June 1st. Hopefully we will get all the tests run and have a great outcome from that! Riley seems completely back to normal – YAY!!! On Thursday we were home and had a great day…until late in the afternoon Riley threw up everywhere and I mean everywhere. I figured she had finally caught what Ryan had earlier this week, but so far that was it for her. She hasn’t had any more issues since then. But – last night Kevin had terrible “tummy issues”. He was up throughout the night and he’s been terribly weak today and downright pitiful. He weighs 8 pounds less than he did a few days ago…if you know what I mean. As of now I’m the only one that has been healthy this week. Now – I’m just tired! Nurse Heidi is ready to go back to work for a break! J Thank you for your prayers and we will check back in after the next appointment. Happy Memorial Day!

I want to have a record of how happy Riley was by the time we were ready to leave the hospital! She's such a ham! Boy we were glad to see her beautiful smile after such a crazy day! The first picture is a bit blurry, so if you can't tell...yes - that is a cell phone on her head! She was totally into entertaining us and the people at Scottish Rite.

Here are a few others we snapped of the tiny baby girl on that big hospital bed.

On the way to the CT scan

Checking everything out

Finally able to drink some gatorade!!!!

Katharyn Graduates from Pre-K

This post is not about any of the Hutchinsons, but rather about our special friend, Katharyn. We met Katharyn before she was born and she has lived next door to us her whole life (in 2 different neighborhoods). Katharyn, better known to us as Kat, graduated from Pre-K at Open Arms on Friday. It was a wonderful ceremony where her class recited the pledge of allegiance, recited a poem and sang several songs including "I am a Promise". I still remember that song from my own childhood and it was so refreshing to hear these 5 year olds singing such a classic. I have to admit when the Director of the program started talking I got a bit teary eyed as she started recalling things along the lines of these precious children entering these doors as babies and now leaving as strong and smart children ready for elementary school! I still think of Katharyn's first months in this world as a fussy and colicky baby and how we all just wanted her to be happy (especially her parents). I think she cried almost constantly for about 6 months, but she survived and is now a thriving and happy young lady. I think back to all the time we spent with her prior to us having our own children and all that we learned about the unconditional love one can have for a child. She taught us a lot of lessons that better enabled us to care for our own children. She'll never know how much she has taught us about many things. Just 16 months ago, Katharyn was diagnosed with cancer and had to undergo surgery in her abdominal area to remove the large tumor. I watch as this brave little girl, along with her very brave family, braced for what we all thought was going to be a long battle. Little did we know that God had a special plan and 2 weeks after her diagnosis she was cancer free! No more cancer and no treatment other than the surgery she had. It was truly a miracle! We were able to witness first hand the power of prayer and we know that there are great things in store for this bright, beautiful, talented, loving, happy and healthy little girl! I still refer to Kat as my "firstborn" and although I now have my own "first born", Kat will remain in my heart in that capacity as well! Although she is not a blood relative, she is our special friend! Congratulations Katharyn - we love you and are very proud of you!


I can't post without mentioning Riley and Ryan, so here's just a little blurb about them...
After the graduation, Kevin took Riley home - we weren't so sure how she would do at the restaurant so we decided not to risk it with her, but I decided to give it a shot with Ryan. So he and I joined the dinner celebration at a Japanese Steakhouse. He was great! He loved the "show" that the cook put on and loved drinking from his own cup with a straw - they even put an umbrella in the cup for him! There was lots of steam from the cooking and he kept yelling "bubbles" every time he saw the steam!!

We had swim lessons on Saturday morning and Riley jumped in before we got in the pool. Luckily Kevin was right there and the teacher was in the water, so no major catastrophe. Needless to say, they are loving the water and jumping in off the side like they've been doing it their whole lives. We had a quiet rainy day here today. They move up to their new class EPS1 tomorow and start on the downstairs hall with all the big kids. Time is flying and before we know it we'll be attending their Pre-K Graduation!

Web Albums Added:
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20090515KatSPreKGraduation#
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20090516WeekendFun#

Big Boy Haircut / Lunch Date / Special Time with Gramma

Today I signed Ryan up for a haircut at school. They have a mother from the school that comes in once a month to do haircuts and she just takes donations for it. What a great idea! So when I got there to pick him up today, the "haircut lady", Ms. Julie, was there and she had time to cut it. So we took advantage! Ryan looks so cute with his big boy haircut...she cut inches off at points. I LOVE it and will continue to do this as long as she does. It's the little things in life that offer conveniences - for which I am very grateful!

I also did something else today that I've never done before. I picked up Riley and Ryan and took them out for a lunch date with me and Ms. Agnes. Agnes is a dear friend of ours and we had such a nice visit. Kevin and I used to watch their 4 children a few times a year when they would go out of town. We started watching them when they were 16, 15 and the twin girls were 10. The twins are now approaching their senior year in high school! My how time flies. It was great to catch up with her.

We have started a new small group and Gramma is babysitting for us each Thursday night. I hope that this will be a great time for all of us and they will get to spend some special time with her. She gives them extra book time before bed which they love! Tonight they watched their zoo movie on the computer before we left. They get such a kick out of watching themselves. They kept pointing and giggling. I had to snap a few photos of them both sitting on Gramma's lap. Fun times for everyone!

Web Album Added:
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20090514RyanSHaircut#

18 Month Photos

 

Riley and Ryan had their 18 month photos taken in April. They were taken around Easter time...and there was a real live bunny! Riley was pretty good with the bunny, but Ryan wasn't so sure...he liked the bubbles a lot better! They did a great job and I am thrilled with how they turned out. Enjoy!

Web Album Added:
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/2009040418MonthPhotos#

Zoo Movie

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciFb6bo8Wxo

Great Race Movie

I took a bunch of video at The Great Race at their school in April and put together this movie. Enjoy!




Here's the link in case you need to access it this way: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trMwVXdCQfs

Mother's Day

2009

2008

We had a great Mother's Day weekend! I still can't believe how different our pictures are this year as opposed to last year, but we have survived another year...with flying colors - I might add! I'm amazed at how far we have come in just 12 months (even though Riley still doesn't have much more hair than last year!). Last year they were babies and this year they are little people with distinct personalities and opinions. They even sat in big church for the first time today, kinda. They made it through the music, but as soon as the message started we had to take them out. They were way to squirmy. Luckily, there are big tvs out in the hallway, so we watched the message out there with all of the other families with small children that didn't get into Waumba Land. We got to church about 10 minutes before the service started and their room was already full. Note to self - get there early or miss out on the message. It was quite difficult to focus while watching after 2 children. At one point we looked over and Riley had my phone up to her ear and she was carrying on a full conversation. It made us all laugh out loud!

After church, we got a "picnic" from Souper Jenny - one of my favorite lunch restaurants in Buckhead and took it to Gramma's for a picnic on the porch. It was a great meal followed by a great nap! Later this afternoon we went to Barefoot in the Park in downtown Duluth and watched Gramma's choir sing. They did a great job! It started to rain, so we headed into a huge tent they had set up. We could still hear and see her, so it was perfect! When the choir came out - Riley immediately saw Gramma and tried to rush the stage! She and Ryan were both waving and I know that made Gramma very proud. We had to keep Riley away from the stage stairs several times. We ended the night at my request at La Parilla for my mexican food fix. It's been a while since we've been there and it tasted so good!

Earlier this week we went next door for a cinco de mayo dinner. They loved the "mexican roll ups" we made for them. It was a great taco night for all of us. On Wednesday, both Riley and Ryan fell at school and banged up their faces. The photos are in the link below. Neither one seemed phased by it, but they left some pretty bad marks. Yesterday, they had swim lessons in the morning and LOVED the water this time. They only fussed when we first got in, but after that there were lots of giggles and smiles! They went under several times and even jumped off the side of the pool (standing up) 3 times each! After nap, we went to the zoo with our friends, Joy, Avery and Margaret! We all had a great time. There was a great chance for rain, but it never rained. I think that scared a lot of people away, so it wasn't crowded and it wasn't too hot. They loved seeing all the animals and pointing at new things. They played on the playground and rode the train. I reminded them that they rode with me last year when they were about 3-4 months old! Much different experience this time. We brought the camera, but realized we didn't put the battery back in after charging it, so no photos, but I took a lot of video. I will put together a movie and share it with you once it's finished.

All in all - a very fun weekend. I am one proud and pooped mama of 2 amazing children! Have a great week!

Web Albums Added:
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20090505CincoDeMayo#
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20090506BooBooS#
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20090510MotherSDay#

Fun Days

What a fun weekend. I feel like Riley and Ryan are growing up before our eyes and our days just get more and more fun. We celebrated Kevin's 35th birthday on Tuesday. We had cupcakes after the kiddo's dinner and Gramma stayed after they went to bed so we could enjoy a night out to celebrate. It was a great date night.

On Saturday Riley and Ryan started their 2nd session of swim lessons. Our friends, the Coles, are also in the class. None of them loved it and there were quite a few tears shed, but I just know they are going to love this after the session is over. They kicked in the water and learned a few new songs to practice their moves. We look forward to them loving the water in the pool like they do in the bath tub!

Today is the day that doesn't seem to end. It's been a day of getting things done. We went to early church and then headed to Lowe's to get some new plants for the yard. During nap time, Kevin and I planted and moved shrubs. I really enjoy working in the yard and love what we did. We added some azaleas and some other things and put down some more mulch. I can't wait until everything really starts to bloom and fill in. Soon after we finished a storm blew through and watered everything we planted. God is good (I think he knew we were tired)!

Web Albums Added:

http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20090428DaddySBirthday#

http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20090502SwimLesson#

http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20090503SundayFun#