1/2 birthday

happy half birthday max! it has been the best 6 months of our lives! although you're quite the crankster, your huge smiles make up for it! we love you so very much!

woo woo we have a tooth!

ever since my friend's daughter got her first tooth at 4 months, i've been checking max's gums for any signs of teeth. so far NOTHING. finally a few days ago i said it was crazy for me to keep checking so i stopped. my mom was over and said he has a tooth coming in and low and behold i see a speck of white! that would explain the past several nights of constant waking!

so in the past few days, max has started rice cereal, is beginning to sit up on his own, and is cutting a tooth! 6 months is looking to be a busy month!

Monday Memories

on january 1, 2008 ryan got his first taste of solid food. he just turned 6 months and although he was a bit unsure of what to think of it, he kept it all down. from that day on, i went to several different grocery stores a week so that i could buy the best organic vegetables and fruits to puree for my little pumpkin. crazy to think that in just 1 week, i will be doing it all over again for my little max. btw i noticed that at 6 months, ryan was wearing 3-6 month clothes with the sleeves rolled up. max has been out of 3-6 month clothes for a couple months now and wearing all the clothes ryan wore when he was 1.

Boo!! Another Surgery!

ryan had his appointment at ucla today and left with some bad news....doctor is advising he go in for another surgery on his eyes. it wasn't such a blow as i knew in my mind all along that he might need another surgery down the road. i was just shocked that he said BOTH eyes were crossing. i thought it was just the right eye, but nope he said the left eye just wasn't as visibly noticeable. we're just keeping our fingers crossed that lightening doesn't strike twice.

Monday Memories

my favorite place in the world is europe. doesn't matter which country in europe-i love it all. i swear i was a european in my past life. craig and i took a trip to munich and prague in october of 2004. we had so much fun. hopefully we will be able to go back soon and take the boys with us.

Monday Memories

ryan's first trip on an airplane was when he was around 3 1/2 months. craig had to go to montreal for BW's convention so it worked out perfectly that we could tag along and see his family and meet our latest nephew. it was nice to get away and actually taste some fall weather!

LOVE the fall colors!!

hunter and ryan
we carved pumpkins (CHR= cohen, hunter, ryan)
all the grandkids get their own chair. ryan's is blue.

Meet Ryan and Max

so to check off #1 on my short list, lets meet ryan and max!

ryan douglas

nicknames- ry, ry ry, fry guy

birthday - 6/28/07

chinese zodiac- the uber special golden pig

zodiac sign- cancer

favorite food- anything korean, cake, ice cream, goldfish crackers

hobbies- watching ppoong ppoongie(the orange korean character that farts), running in the middle of the street, and waving to complete strangers

random tidbits- ryan was born 4 weeks early during one of the HOTTEST weeks in the desert(118 degrees with humidity). he was born with an extra chromosome(aka Down syndrome) and has to work extra hard at doing simple things that come so natural to "typical" babies. he has come so far and i couldn't be any more proud of him. he has got a major case of the terrible twos and loves to climb up onto tables and other high places and perform his ppoong ppoongie dance. most of the time he loves his "little" brother and give out lots of kisses and hugs. right now he's really into imitating everyone. not a single day goes by that i don't laugh, scream, and pull my hair out.

maxon tino

nicknames- max, maxers, maxaroni

birthday- 8/29/09

chinese zodiac- cow

zodiac sign- virgo

favorite food- mommy's milk-fresh not frozen

hobbies- tummy time, watching big brother ryan, and crying

random tidbits- max was born 1 week early and weighed a whopping 8lbs 11oz...kinda big considering i'm not that big of a person. he was born with the typical 46 chromosomes, but has cranky pants syndrome. this kid just LOVES to cry. at 5 months i have to admit that it is getting a *little* bit better. he is smiling a lot and when he does his mouth opens up super wide. he is grabbing everything in sight and loves to put it all in his mouth.

Blogging

i love reading blogs and just wish i could devote more time to adding to mine then sharing it with friends and family(VERY few people know about this blog). here are a few things i'd like to do-

1. introduce ryan and max

2. list 20 things i love about ryan and max

3. have one of the following: monday memories, wayback wednesdays, or flashback fridays

Christmas

can't believe that christmas has come and gone. it came way too quickly this year, but we all had a great time. this year we decided to just do gifts for the kids and honestly, i didn't miss not getting any gifts. ryan had lots of fun when santa came to deliver gifts and max was a good boy and took a long nap while we all ate dinner.

can't wait for next year when ryan will be able to understand christmas a little more and we'll have 2 little rugrats running around the house!

REALLY bad week

thank goodness it's thursday. this has been one heck of a week for me. today was my semi-breaking point. i almost started crying. ryan was destroying everything in the house(as usual) and max has been crying ALL morning....and when i mean ALL morning, i really mean it. poor guy has red spots on his head from crying so much. one time i picked him up and his entire head of hair (granted he doesn't have much) was drenched with sweat. our house is a mess and my head is about to explode. i just want to crawl into a cocoon with a stiff alcoholic drink(and considering i haven't drank alcohol in over 3 years, i'd probably pass out after a couple sips).

fall is here!

FINALLY! the weather has cooled down in the desert! i was sooooo excited to not sweat while out today!

last november

it has been a year now since ryan had surgery on his eyes. after all the little guy went through, his eyes are starting to cross again. not in the same way they did before the surgery, but crossing nonetheless. before surgery is considered again, we're going to try out glasses. hopefully that will do the trick, but wearing glasses is going to be a huge struggle.

crazy how fast a year passes. i still remember so many little details of the entire 3 weeks like it was yesterday. it still brings tears to my eyes thinking back at all the pain my little guy was in. i often think about aaron, a friend ryan had made while hospitalized who had been in the hospital for almost a year. during our 2 1/2 week stay, he had no visitors and only received a couple calls from home. i hope he is still alive and is now healthy.

::UPDATE:: so happy to find out aaron is still alive! yay!!

Maxon Tino Gilmore

baby max was born on saturday august 29 at 12:05pm. he weighed 8lbs 11 oz and was 19 1/2 inches. so glad he came at 39 weeks otherwise who knows how much bigger he would have been! he's healthy and doing well. can't believe how different this pregnancy AND delivery was compared to ryan's. who knew things could be soooo easy?

36 weeks 1 day

this is the longest i've been pregnant! i've been on edge since week 35 praying that this little guy would stay put until at least week 37. so far so good. just 6 more days to go and then i can relax!

First Steps!!!

i can't believe it, ryan has taken his first steps!!  honestly, i almost cried.  21 long months of working with him and the moment has come!  just last week i was talking to his pt and craig about how i really didn't think he would walk until after he turned 2 and BAM he proves me wrong once again.  i am so insanely proud of him!!  way to go ry ry!!!!!!!! 

runny noses are cute?

ryan just came down with his very first cold, ever.  not bad for almost 18 months of being sick-free.  he has a slight cough and a runny nose.  i always thought (and still think) it's gross when i see other kids with runny noses, but gosh it's so darn cute when it's your own!

1 in 10,000 chance

that was the chance ryan had of developing an abscess in his eye after strabismus surgery.  how did he get to be the lucky one?  

ryan had strabismus surgery on wed. morning.  i noticed his left eyelid becoming increasingly red on thurs night.  he was admitted to the hospital on fri and that's where we currently are.  he had 1 in 1,000 chance of developing an infection after the surgery.  the first infection for his doctor.  

poor guy has been through so much that i can't (and dont' want to) relive any moment thus far.  he went in for his second surgery today and now his left eyelid is the size of a golf ball.  o.k. maybe not THAT big, but very close to it.  he has refused to open his eyes since the surgery so i don't even know how bad the inside looks.  however, the doctor did warn us that it will look very bad...i'm scared.

doesn't his throat hurt?

ryan has decided that screaming is cool.  he screams when he's excited, he screams when he laughs, he screams when he's mad.  my ears hurt, but i still love him!

2 weeks away

i am finally home after 2 weeks away in montreal and my parent's house. i can't believe how much stuff gets piled up when i'm away! it's def. a lot harder to be away when you have an infant. ryan has been such a trooper, i feel so blessed to have such an awesome son! only a couple more weeks until ry's 1st birthday. although i'm excited, i think God is keeping me busy so i don't think about how sad i am inside.

Motherhood

motherhood is an amazing thing. i have never felt this overwhelming amount of love for anyone or anything before. it's also a bit scary too, especially because ryan has down syndrome. so far we have been so blessed that he has no health problems and especially blessed that he has no heart problems. he's also reaching each milestone within his age range and even ahead in some! despite that, i worry. i worry about his future. i worry about how society will treat him. i worry about whether he'll have friends. i want to hold him in my arms and sheild him from anything and everything that will hurt him, but i know i can't. he has already grown so much. every week i get teary eyed as a new outfit that was once too big, fits.
God has given me ryan so i know He has faith in craig and i to raise this beautiful child. i just hope that despite everything ryan will go through in life, he'll always know that his mommy and daddy love him.