Rylan’s Journey Home

I finally have had the chance to post some new photos!  I have many more to add, but this is a start.  Scroll down this page and watch on the right hand side.  You’ll see a heading “Album”.  Right under that are the new pictures!

I promise to add more as soon as I can.  I still hate this blog as it will not let me post pictures here in my daily journal!

It’s been awhile since my last blog post!  After Cameron’s sickness, Rylan got sick, but not with the same thing.  He had double ear infection with a mouth full of some sort of sores.  Almost like Kanker Sores!  It was an extremely unfun few days.  Non-stop crying, no sleeping, no eating or drinking.  I felt SO sorry for him!  I’m happy to say everyone is much better now and “was” just getting back to normal life!  Before I get on with the rest of the story, let me say that we discovered our little man has quite temper sometimes!  Last night at my mom’s he screamed for what seemed like forever.  Teeth, ears, tired… we tried to guess what it might be.  Finally after starting to be driven out of our minds, we gave him a piece of the chocolate cake he eyed up when we first got there.  Like a light switch, he busted out a smile and dove in.  That was it.  Happy as a clam after that!  My dad was giving a corn dog the other night and put him in the high chair (my parents were watching him for a bit).  Well, Rylan screamed his head off!  Banging his hands on the high chair and just having quite the fit.  Finally my mom noticed what was going on after my dad was up in arms (literally).  The kid didn’t want a corn dog broke up in pieces…. he wante the ENTIRE thing on the stick.  Problem solved, tantrum over!  My dad had to pick up the pieces and assemble them back on the stick!!!!  John’s comments last night - “we are going to have our hands full with this one”.  Let’s hope he begins to talk real soon.
So, I’m back to work full-time and it was going well for about 1 day.  The boys were better and routine was falling into place…. that was until they closed the Interstate Bridge!  All I can say is what a nightmare.  This bridge connects Wisconsin (where we live) and Minnesota (where we work).  Our total commute of 45 minutes each way a day just doubled into a 1 1/2hr commute each way, each day!  The closest bridges are that far away from us!  I work at 7am so this means that I have to be leaving with myself and the boys ready, in the car, by 5:30am!  Then look forward to much unhappiness in the car for 1 1/2hrs, the usage of an extreme amount of gas and then do it all over again in the evening!  One day of that and we packed our bags and stayed in Winona, MN for two nights where we work. We got a great rate of $50/night that included tax and breakfast.  It still means that we had to spend the money to do it, but at $50.00/night we would have easily been spending that on gas in one day with John and I driving in seperately (because we must).  Last night we made the commute back home and were happy to be here!
Starting next Monday they have arranged a water taxi service.  I’ll have to drive with the kids to a pick up site (local park or school) and get on a shuttle.  The shuttle will take us to the base of the bridge and the Mississippi River.  We then wait in line and get on to be taken across to the Levee in Winona.  From there I’ll have no choice but to walk to a car that we’ll have waiting (my mom’s probably), load the kids in and take them to daycare, and then myself to work.  First off, this sounds better than spending the money in gas driving…. but it will take a lot of work, patience, and practice to get the routine down.  I’m hoping we’ll save some time.  The first shuttle is at 6am and we’ll be in line for it.  I’ll let you know how it goes!
The bridge was closed because of problems found with the gusset joints on a recent inspection that was completed.  The findings in a report are supposed to be ready in 2-3 weeks.  Based on that report we’ll find out if it is repairable and how long it will take.  Speculation is that repairs may take 2 months at a minimum and traffic will remain closed over the bridge during that time.  Everything is up in the air right now.  I just hope that it does reopen…. and SOON!  By the way, this shuttle/ferry won’t work for John.  He needs to be in Winona earlier than that, so he’ll be living at my mom’s a couple nights a week at least (who lives in Winona), and then maybe driving the last 3 nights of the week.
What did I say, if it’s not one thing…. it’s another!  Here we thought we were starting a nice enjoyable summer.  Both kids adjusted to each other, me back to work, school is out, and for once a normal routine.  Hmmmm…..  It just doesn’t appear the word normal goes with our lives anymore.
I promise to post new pictures of the boys soon!  I still want to redo my blog, taking off some of the older stuff.  Unfortunately I have a older computer and dialup, so I have to do it at my mom’s.  But I will get it done soon!

Just a note to let everyone know that Cameron is much, much better!  After a very rough week, and then a complete weekend with lots of rest, last week he was turning the corner.  The fever, vomiting, chills, etc all seemed to slowly go away.  His appetite came back, and thankfully the Scarlet Fever started to go way too!  That was horrible!  All I can say is that to watch your child scream in pain for 1-2 hours because his “underwear area” was burning him so bad… I could hardly take it.  The hot spots on the body were bright red in color and looked like a severe sunburn.  He couldn’t even stand underwear on it was that bad.  He still has areas where the rash is healing, and some dry patchy areas of skin on his face, but it is 95% better than it was!  We are still noticing that he seems to tire more easily than before and with that comes whiny and crabbiness, but I think he’ll get to 100% total health soon.
Tomorrow he starts Little League T-Ball with his first practice.  He is saying he doesn’t want to go, so I’m trying not to talk too much about it.  He’s nervous that he won’t know how to play the game.  We’ll sort of show up there tomorrow, and I hope he decides to try it!  His last day of school is Wednesday with dismissal at 10:30am.  They then have a goodbye ceremony where his class will “graduate” from pre-school!  So this week will be busy full of his activities.
Rylan continues to do extremely well!  He is picking up new words every day; peek-a-boo, thank you, shoe, feet, cow, water/aqua, mommy, mama, daddy, pappa, grandma, puppy, nice puppy, choo choo…..  He is still sleeping all night long - praise the LORD!  We couldn’t have been luckier.  He just fits right in and it’s like he new he was coming to us.  He is a joy!
Rylan and Cameron will be in full-time daycare starting next week.  Rylan again has adjusted well and loves it at Mindy’s, so I have no worries about being back to work!  Although just as the weather is getting nice here
Things at home have been going well.  Cameron continues to have his struggles sharing his toys with his brother, but he also has consequences for bad behavior now.  When Rylan first came home I was more passive about it, but it’s time to let him know that Rylan is here to stay!  He commented to me the other day “Mom, send him back to where ever it is you got him”!  Ohhhh yeah, he’s a 5yr old little pistol some times!  Really though, it’s been more about me getting my routine down.  Realizing I can’t do everything in a day, and that house cleaning will wait.  Changing just that has made a world of difference in how our day goes, and how the boys get along.  It doesn’t say much for my house though!
I hope everyone has enjoyed the long weekend, and has celebrated Memorial Day in some way.  Today is my dad’s birthday, so we spent it here at my mom’s outside (and eating DQ Ice Cream Cake)!  Tomorrow is back to work.  No fun getting up two kids and having to be to work at 7am (throwing in a 45 min drive each way).  So far I’ve not been late…  Keep your fingers crossed I can do this everyday now!

Oh people, Cameron has been so sick this week.  It’s got to the point that I am getting a bit scared by this.

First it started out around April 20th or so that we had passed a stomach flu around.  Then about 2 weeks ago we had bad colds and congestion.  We thought finally we were getting over all that!

Well, Tuesday morning Cameron woke up not feeling too great.  I had to be to work at 7am and he wanted to go to daycare.  I thought maybe he was just feeling yucky from getting over all the above.  Sinus in your tummy can be upsetting.  I wasn’t at work an hour when Mindy called.  Cameron wanted me to come get him.

As soon as we got home he started vomiting and had diahrea.  He was so sleepy and just couldn’t move much.  By evening he started developing a tiny rash on his back.  That night, a high fever of about 102.5 kicked in.  I was worried and he slept in bed with me.  

By Wednesday morning it seemed a little bit better.  The fever broke at 4am and I thought we turned the corner.  Not so.  Within a few hours later more of everything above.  Now the rash had nearly consumed his entire body!  In the car we went to Urgent Care.  One look at him by the doctor and she determined he had Step Throat and Scarlet Fever!  Also, more than likely a stomach flu with it!  She gave him a dose of antibiotics in two immediate shots.  The rest of us were tested for strep, but negative.

Wednesday night then was much of the same routine exactly.  Thursday and Friday also.  It is now day 5 and this is still going on!  He looks terrible.  The whites of his eyes are not white, more like a light yellow and blood shot.  He is pale all around his eyes and mouth.  His lips are bright red.  His private parts are horribly covered with this rash and causing him great pain!  The fever continues.

Last night I grew more scared.  We got him to take some Tylenol which brought the fever down at bedtime.  By about 11pm, it was back.  This morning he says his privates feel better, but his mouth hurts bad.  The fever is at 99.8.

I’ve been soaking him in the tub with Baking Soda and apply an Aloe Vera gel to the areas that I can.  I’m near packing the car and taking him back in.  He can keep food and liquids down though which is an improvement.

I’m more worried about the fever, and his appearance as he doesn’t look right.  I would have thought the antibiotic would have kicked in by now after going on 72 hours.

Rylan, thankfully, has none of this!  Amazing!!!!

Happy Mother’s Day to you all! If there is anything that I have learned over the years of trying to build a family, there are many types of people who fit into the role of MOM. I’ve also learned exactly how hard being a mother can be! My Mother’s Day didn’t start out exactly the way I had planned it. The kids were naughty… and I mean really naughty! They didn’t seem to get that it was “my” day! Regardless, after being emotionally drained by 10:30am we loaded them into the car and headed out to meet both sides of our family for dinner at 11:00am. Besides being exhausted, my darn cold was still hanging on. I really felt tired, crabby, and sick. My allergies are screaming lately too! After needing to get after Cameron once during the meal, the rest of it went quite well actually! We then proceeded to drive to one of our friends’ mother’s house. Sonja and I have been to Guatemala 3 times together! So we took photo’s from that trip and glued and pasted a collage of pics. Sonja and her husband remain in process of bringing their daughter home and we wanted to do something for her. Anyway, my kids acted like complete monkeys! We left there wondering the entire way home what the heck are we doing wrong! Sonja swears they weren’t bad, just being boys, but she is way, way toooooo kind! So, immediately we started implementing some new techniques and not giving in to every demand or request! Cameron keeps a calender to keep track of his good and bad days. If he gets enough smiley faces in a months time, we will go to Wisconsin Dells and take a special train ride while there. If not, we don’t go and he starts over to another month. Rylan, well, he’s too small to really get it yet. We just need to keep him from pinching and pulling Cameron’s hair when he gets a chance ; ) I think being we were so drained by the end of the day, and not feeling well lately, we just were not getting down on the floor enough with them to interact. We sort of got into expecting them to just behave and get along. HA! Well, I put into play our new plan yesterday and you know what - they were great! Seriously, only a couple attemped hair pulls and pinches by Rylan - and Cameron I only saw him bump Rylan in the behind once on purpose. That was a milestone compared to what it had been like. So, we go with a new plan of attack. Household chores will have to wait until the weekend or when the kids are in bed. I can’t have my hands 20 places at once and it makes everything SO much more complicated to try. We are just 7 weeks into being home so I guess I can’t expect everything to be perfect! Cameron is home sick today with the stomach flu again. I thought this morning maybe it was just allergy/sinus upsetting his tummy. I took him and Rylan to daycare, and got to work by 7am. It was an hour later and he had Mindy call me…. he didn’t feel good. He’s been sleeping now for almost 2hrs so I know he really doesn’t feel good! Hope he’s better tomorrow and that Rylan doesn’t get it!

I feel like I’ve fallen off blog land lately!  Sorry if I double up on kiddo and home updates.  It’s been as crazy as usual and we appear to remain the 3-ring circus!
Our house was first blessed with a stomach flu bug.  We are really happy that not everyone in our family ended up with it though.  We only “took out” John’s brother!  I was shocked at that.  Typically these things spread like wildfire.  So as sorry as we were that he got it, we chalked it up to feeling pretty lucky. 
After the stomach flu we went onto colds.  Just me and boys there!  My mom called one day thanking me for a sore throat, but it seems to have went away quickly for her.  Rylan, Cameron and I are still coughing, blowing noses, and having trouble breathing after an entire week.  We’re better though… so I’ll stop complaining.
Thursday night we had a thunderstorm here.  Friday I braved it and took both kids after they woke up to the 100 Mile Garage Sale!  Since I seem to raise roosters for children, they are up at 6am every morning!  So we got a good start as most opened at 7am.  I have to say they both did pretty good for the first 2-3 hours.  A family friend, Christy, saw me out with them at a HUGE community sale held indoors.  Rylan on my hip and Cameron trailing behind me with his papersack (waiting the opportunity to fill it up)!  I was sweating like mad as it was work weaving them in and out of people, but we had smiles on our faces…. yet!  Right Christy!!!??  Anyway, the novelty began to wear off as Rylan wasn’t grasping the concept that every ride on toy at every sale was not his!  He’d hold on for dear life as I’d have to pry him off!  Cameron was the trooper that day!  He had a lot of patience with him and chewed me out for not just buying the toys!  Hmmmm, seems I came home with nothing for me so his lecture must have worked a little bit!
By Friday night, after stopping at John’s parents, we were pretty exhausted and ready to come home.  I went to get a glass of water…. and much to my surprise…. we had none!  Just when Rylan was in a meltdown mode and flopped himself off the bed while John was changing him.  Both kids dirty and in need of major cleaning.  So we went from that evening until today, Monday, without water!  Not fun!!!!  We are guessing we had another lightening strike that Thursday evening.  It took out our water pump which is inside our well 500ft in the ground!  Last time it took out all 3 garage door openers, our water, and a tv!  We’re counting our blessings this time.
Our “former” agency had another hearing last week in Michigan.  They had pled guilty to tax evasion and a form of fraud but the several other charges were dismissed.  The judge in the case is now trying to determine if restitution is to be paid to 22 families, us included.  Along with this they will be on probabation for 11 months and can’t work in the adoption world for 3 years.  A very light sentence in my opinion!  I’m not counting on getting anything reimbursed to us.  It would be nice, but I don’t want to get my hopes up. 
What makes me so angry is that I facilitated the entire adoptin myself from start to finish.  My “agency” did NOT give me medical updates as promised.  My “agency” did NOT give me pictures as promised.  My “agency” did NOTHING to support our family during what should have been an exciting time.  What they did do was cause us to lose 6 months of our son’s life because of their inefficiencies, and that can’t have a price put on it!  Along with that they caused us an amount of stress that I can’t begin to put into words.  Adoption is hard enough much less seeing your agency featured on a day time talk show!  Then to have them “raided and arrested”!  Once all that happened we began to wonder if there really was a child, which is one of the main reasons I went to Guatemala in May 2007 to see Rylan.  That was an extra expense we hadn’t planned, but I had no choice.  That is a decision that I will NEVER regret and that I truly believe is what saved our adoption.  Again, I went back in Dec 2007 as I had to check his welfare for myself.  I had to form a relationship with our attorney over there…. who by the way wasn’t easy to find!  Our agency certainly didn’t offer up the information for me to reach him.  It took me nearly a month to get to him.  So NO, I don’t think they’ve been punished enough.  I know our agony, our fears, our frustrations, our anger…. and I’ve seen it in the other families with whom I’ve become good friends.  Shame on anyone who would take advantage of people in such a way.  To toy with our feelings is bad enough…. but they held children’s lives in their hands and didn’t care.
I’m back to trying to Ebay again.  I have so much to sell that it isn’t funny!  Check out the link on the blog if your interested in tea cups and unique glassware!  I’m going to try to list on Mondays and Fridays for now.  Not much, just a bit.  We’ll see how it goes!
As for the boys, they are doing ok.  They are terrific when you have one or the other…. almost like ANGELS!!!!  But Cameron is having a tough time when in a confined space with Rylan lately.  It’s like he can’t help but have to annoy him by hitting and pushing…. most of the time not hard, just enough so Rylan complains by letting out a whine or cry.  Rylan is of course learning this exact behavior from Cameron now.  And let me tell you, he is 22 months old and ready to box his older brother up!  Rylan doesn’t take much and he comes right back at Cameron.  On the flip side I’m told at daycare Cameron defends Rylan tooth and nail.  When Rylan is sleeping, Cameron can’t wait for him to get up.  He wants him to go everywhere with us.  Must be the love/hate relationship thing now?  Urgh….. Calgon take me away!

Oh yes, another eventful week in our house!  We had a flu bug make it’s way to John and Cameron.  They both got sick last Sunday night, felt icky Monday, got better Tuesday, got sick again Tuesday night, but better by Wednesday.  I’m not feeling so hot again tonight.  I’m not sure if we ate something bad or if it is a touch of something?  It isn’t the worst flu… just enough to make you feel kind of blah…..

So the other night I was giving the kids baths.  I got Rylan in the tub first because John and Cameron were playing in the loft.  Once he was all cleaned up with pajamas on I ran another bath and Cameron got it.  Rylan was really mad he couldn’t get back in!  Well, once Cameron was out and wrapped in his towel he came to our bed to get his pajamas on.  Rylan came buring around the corner and as Cameron bent over (with the towel still on), he took a big bite of Cameron’s right butt cheek!  Cameron let out the one of the biggest howls I’ve heard in a long time and proceeded to tell me, in between sobs, how much he didn’t like his brother and he wasn’t talking to him anymore!

Yup, that’s another day at our house!  I feel like Cameron has gone a few steps backwards with Rylan… or maybe this is the new “normal”?  Any chance these two get to annoy each other, they do it.  I’ll catch Cameron tapping Rylan’s head until Rylan turns around and slugs him one.  Or Rylan will now ride his little tractor up to Cameron and ram him in the back.  I could go on and on…..  Today, both boys got a time out at the same time!  YES, BOTH BOYS!  We have two chairs in the living room and each now has their name on it (well not literally).  When I catch them hitting or being intentionally mean, they get escorted to the chair.  Rylan for 1-2 minutues and Cameron for 5 minutes. 

Ahhhhh, just as I got into my blog, I heard the door open upstairs!  John and Cameron are home and Rylan is about to fall asleep in his playpen.  Got to go, but I’ll write more later!

This past week flew by again!  Last Friday we did have the doctor appointment for both boys.  That was the most un-fun event.  It started with Rylan being undressed, weighed, and measured.  He absolutely did NOT like the doctor one bit.  He screamed when the man was just looking in his ears!  I’ve never seen him react like that.  He probably knew what was coming.
Then it was Cameron’s turn.  He got to wear a little blue gown, and I have to say, it was so cute!  He was taken to be weighed, measured, his eyes checked, and his hearing checked.  John went with him while I stayed in the room with Rylan.
The doctor informed us we have two very happy and healthy children!  Cameron ranks in the 90th percentile for both his height and weight.  Rylan is in the 50th percentile for height and weight (according to US Standards of course).  Our of curiosity I went back to compare Cameron’s 18 month records to Rylans.  Cameron weight about 3lbs more and was about 1″ taller.  It will be interesting to see how Rylan’s height and weight progress.  So far, the kid eats almost everything!  One weird coincidence….. neither John, Cameron or Rylan like Macaroni and Cheese!  Isn’t that strange!?
Anyway, after all the other fun and games were over I was informed Cameron would need 4 shots and Rylan the same.  I could have had a slight stroke!  Cameron caught wind of that and immediately ran for cover and hit under the stroller.  Then once the nurses came in and I removed the stroller, he wound himself up in the curtain that hangs in the room and refused to come out.  Only by the grace of GOD he eventually came out and resolved to sitting on John’s lap.  He was up first for the shots.  One nurse went on each side of him and at the same time, gave the first shots in his arms.  Remember the kid in the movie Home Alone?  When he puts on the after shave and it burns his face.  That is exactly what Cameron looked like for about 5 seconds.  Then the second shot went into each arm at the same time and he belted out a scream like no other!  Poor Rylan is sitting in the stroller facing him watching all this.  Hello, someone can slap me there.  Well, Rylan started scrunching up his face and crying because Cameron was.  It was a funny cry though… almost like he was imitating him.  I pointed it out to Cameron and we all just started laughing hysterically!  Well….. up until it was Rylan’s turn.  He was held down on a table by John and the two nurses went at his legs.  Two shots in each leg.
Needless to say by the time we left there we promised Chuck-E-Cheeses and Toys-R-US.  That was one time I felt no shame in spoiling them!!!!
Everything is going really well in our house!  I keep joking (well sort of) that I feel like we are a 3-ring circus most of the time.  We’ve got a pretty good routine down, but when it falls apart, it really falls apart!  We went for a drive the other day to Alma, WI to have breakfast at this place on the railroad tracks.  That went fine.  We got in the car and proceeded to drive up to Nelson, WI to the Creamery for Ice Cream.  John and Cameron go in.  From there on out it was all downhill.  They come out with our ice cream and have one heck of a time crossing the road.  It was busy.  Well, finally they were able to go and Cameron drops his spoon.  Cameron apparently was unable to bend over to get it with his one free hand, and cars were stopped both ways waiting for them, so John tries to pick it up.  He practically drops my ice cream.  In his frustration he begins kicking the spoon across the street!  Me, I’m laughing.  They get in the car and like usual, Cameron asks to sample everyone’s.  And as usual, he decides he likes mine best!  It never fails, the kid always gets chocolate.  Always.  Then he decides he doesn’t want it and wants mine.  So I’m driving trying to turn around to let him spoon a bit out…. when all of a sudden the scoop rolls right off the cone!  It’s rolling across our backseat.  John is looking like a hot pot ready to boil over trying to turn around to catch my cone.  What am I doing?  Laughing!  Sometimes that is all you can do!  The day went on from there…..  We are never boring, that’s for sure.
Rylan is still doing great.  In fact, he’s begun to get his first “time outs”!  Yes, that’s right…. mean mom!  He’s picked up hitting and pinching from his older brother.  So now when they start to go at it, they both get time outs!  Typical sibling issues…. so yes, we’re VERY normal!
Cameron on the other hand has regressed a bit.  He lives to do anything to annoy Rylan and his bad about keeping his hands to himself.  He likes to give him a whack here and there.  Not hard, but hard enough that Rylan knows what he’s doing.  But does Rylan cry…. heck no…. he comes right back at Cameron to give it back!  Good for him really!!!  I was worried Cameron would damage Rylan progress by being “a typical brother” and he’d be packing his bags to go back to Guatemala, but no, he holds his own just fine.
Next week is my last week with an extremely flexible schedule!  I’ll then start going back to work 2-3 full days a week.  The first week in June I’m back full-time.  I have to say, staying home with both kids is not easy for me.  Especially since it’s been to cold to be outside and now it’s been raining the past 2 days straight. 
My dream is to work part-time, and parent the remainder…. but I’ll keep dreaming!  We need health insurance so it isn’t even an option :(   Good thing is, I love my job and they treat me extremely well!

Arhhhh, this Friday is the dreaded doctor appointment for BOTH boys!  Cameron is going in for his 5yr checkup and SHOTS for Kindergarten this next Sept.  Rylan is going in for his first checkup.  I did receive a card from the attorney in Guatemala with the vaccinations he has received.  How legitimate it is, I don’t know!?  He may have to receive all his vaccinations again…. but more than likely will at least have to have some done again.
I absolutely dread getting my children shots.  I have had a deep fear of needles since being a young child!  I know how they feel.  Especially Cameron.  He is old enough to realize what is coming and to scream at the top of his every loving lungs about it!!!  Rylan, well, we can pacify him with something until the needles goes in.  Then I’m sure he will hate whoever it is that is holding him…. and I can assure you, it won’t be me!  I’m seeing a visit to Chuck-E-Cheeses after the appointment!  Poor kids, I’d take them about anywhere after such an icky afternoon.
Rylan continue to well in his adjustment.  I am so lucky!  He continues to be very energetic!  He doesn’t watch any tv or cartoons.  He also doesn’t sit and play with toys for a period of time.  He will grab a toy and check it out, then leave it and move on to the next thing.  We’re practicing doing more one on one things so lengthen his attention span.  I can sit him on my lap facing me and sing “itsy bitsy spider” and he loves it.  We get good eye contact looking at one another, and he enjoys my singing (he’s too young to notice how bad it is)!  We can also get through a short book without him squirming off my lap now.  So progress is being made.  I don’t believe he is hyper at all….. just very active and curious.  I think with some work we can streamline his attention to something for more than 2 minutes!  Those of you who have met him know there is one thing he absolutely loves and that is music!  This kid will drop whatever he is doing and will start dancing when he hears music.  If in the car, he is thumping in his carseat!  If in the house, he drops his food or drink and starting jigging!  If we are in a store, he’s rocking in the shopping cart!  He is actually quite a good dancer too.  He gets the arms, legs, head, and butt all going!  I wish I could post some video of him!
He is still adoring his older brother, Cameron.  Boy, did we find out just how independent Cameron had become once Rylan came home.  Cameron will get his own snack, get his own juice box, go to the bathroom alone, watch a FULL episode of a cartoon, etc, etc.  We could go somewhere and know that Cameron would stay by us without following him around non-stop!  We sort of became lazy parents in a way.  Not that we weren’t engaged with our child, but he was starting to need us less allowing us to spend time doing our own thing in the house as needed (laundry, dishes, cooking, tv time, reading).  So that has been the balance for us.  Believe me, I’m NOT complaining one bit.  We completely understand how lucky we are that is the only change! 
I was sort of hoping hoping Rylan’s energy would help me burn some calories!!!  So far, no luck.  He doesn’t need encouragement to work me harder though….. trust me on that!