A few days (or would that be, "daze?") ago, I said things have been nuts with Ryan's sleep schedule. I'm unhappy to say things are still not good. Last night was particularly bad. We had some excitement after midnight, but of course Ryan slept through that. The excitement? Water started pouring out of the first floor ceiling into our living room. It was coming from Ryan's room. Yikes! Luckily we were able to get it under control without too much damage, and without waking Ryan. (What caused the leak was funkiness with one of the radiators and our boiler. It seems to be ok for now.) We had some good excitement, as well. Earlier in the evening, we had thunder and hail. Pretty cool. The thunder was close. Sometime after 1:30am, it started to snow. (It's hailed off and on over the last couple of days, but that was the first snow I've seen since I've been back here.) It was pretty, but it didn't stick.

Before our trip back to the States, I would have said that even though Ryan is two, it's definitely not a terrible two. However, the last few days of our trip, then the journey east, seems to have brought the terrible out! :) I think Ryan had just had it with all the traveling by then. Besides not wanting to go to bed at a decent hour (or nap), he's started to be very trying at times. He's a very good natured kiddo, but he just does not listen to me OR Larry. Both of us find this frustrating and disconcerting. Of course it's worse when he's tired or wants attention, or both. It really doesn't help that we haven't been able to let him go outside to run around much. He's got so much energy, that if he doesn't get to let it out by tearing around at a full run for an extended amount of time, he gets pretty unruly. I'd love to let him run around the Stray, or take him to a park, but it's been too cold, windy, and wet to do so. We'll just have to take him to some indoor places (which we've done once already since we've been back).

Tonight Ryan fell asleep by his baby gate. That just seems kind of sad and pathetic! :( He's done that a couple of times. We put him to bed, but as soon as I tell him goodnight and leave, he jumps out of bed and runs to his door and cries. Thankfully it didn't take too long for him to quiet down this time. I had a feeling he may have fallen asleep by his gate, which was confirmed when I went to go check on him. Luckily I was able to get him into bed without waking him.

I'm still working on posting photos and catching up on our visit to the States. Ryan didn't nap today, so I didn't get that chunk of time on the computer. I'm knocking on wood that soon Ryan will get back to napping, and I'll be able to (finally!) catch up in here, answer all my e-mail, and maybe (gasp!), actually work on a couple of stories I've had in my brain forever.

Happy birthday, Joyce!

Love,

~Larry, Ryan, and Holly

Right now is the first time since we got back (a week ago, Thursday) that Ryan has actually taken a nap, and that I have actually gotten the house quiet, and to myself. These last eight days, I have NOT had much time at all on my computer. This is mostly due to Ryan sleep schedule craziness and my own jet lag. I haven't even been able to keep up on opening my e-mail, let alone answering it. So, if I owe you an e-mail, please bear with me! I have a to-do list a mile long, with catching up on e-mailing and my blog right there at the top. So now I'm only a month and two days behind on my blog! :P

It's such a relief to finally be able to sit here and relax. I feel bad because lately I've been a bit short with Ryan. With just a couple exceptions, I just have not had any breaks as a mom. With Ryan waking up in the middle of the night (usually more than once, or once for a big stretch), not even my nights are Ryan-free.

So I sit, taking a deep breath, and enjoying my break which has come... finally.

Happy birthday Barry! Hope you have a great day!

Love,

Larry, Holly, and Ryan

Indio

Paula dropped me and Ryan off at the airport (MCO) in the early hours of Dec. 12. Ryan and I got through security in a wonderfully short amount of time. However, that left us with quite a bit of time on our hands before our flight boarded. There just happened to be a Starbucks right there... :D They had a maple latte on their menu board. I'd never had one, so I went ahead and tried one. Not too bad. At the very least, it was something different.

(Just a little segue on the comparative availability of various Starbucks beverages: The SBUX (the stock market abbreviation for Starbucks) at MCO is the only place I recall seeing the maple latte during my entire Stateside visit. The SBUXs in England (that I've seen) had the big three Christmas drinks: peppermint mocha, gingerbread latte, and toffee nut latte. However, they did not have the pumpkin latte, or the caramel apple cider. Interestingly, the UK SBUXs had and still have Signature Hot Chocolate (with caramel and hazelnut varieties in addition), which I didn't see in the States. Finally, Stateside SBUXs replaced their Christmas drinks with the cinnamon dulce latte. Yum! Such an animal does not exist in the UK.)

The flight went pretty well. Joyce and Norm picked me and Ryan up at LAX. Joyce suggested we take Ryan to a nearby beach to let him run around. This was an excellent idea! We went to El Segundo beach - not exactly one of SoCal's nicer beaches, but after being cooped up on the plane, Ryan had a blast running free, which was the whole point!

From there we had lunch at IHOP, then stopped in the Diamond District. Joyce had an errand to run there. It was interesting to me, since I'd never been. I had no idea so many jewelry stores could co-exist in one spot! :) After that, it was the long drive back to Indio, with a quick stop at WalMart before heading to Joyce and Norm's house. Joyce and Norm really made their home welcoming for us. Joyce put up an adorable Christmas tree covered in peppermint candy themed ornaments. There were also toys and books to keep Ryan entertained.

Joyce and Norm live in a Del Webb community, which is gated, private, and very nice. They have a golf cart to tool around in. It was a nice evening, so Norm took Ryan and me to go feed the ducks at a nearby pond. There was a bag of stale Cheerios for the ducks. We opened it up, and showed Ryan how to throw Cheerios to the ducks. Ryan, with a very intent look on his face, reached into the bag, looked at the ducks, and shoved a handful of Cheerios into his mouth! We just could not get him to throw the Cheerios for anything! We figured he must have been pretty hungry to eat stale Cheerios...

Later on in the evening after I got Ryan down to bed, Joyce and Norm and I took a dip in their pool. That was nice and relaxing.

Ryan slept pretty well, but his tossing and turning kept waking me up. We'd gotten him a ReadyBed, one of those all-in-one inflatable mattress/sleeping bags. It would have been perfect, except that Ryan tends to sleep all over the place, and being zipped up (even a little) in a sleeping bag was too restricting for him. Oh well. Hopefully next year... Joyce improvised by taking a huge cushion off a chaise lounge style couch, and making a bed for Ryan on that. That worked pretty well. (We wound up taking it with us to my parents' house.)

The next day, Norm very kindly watched Ryan while Joyce and I went to lunch (Islands!) and shopped. God bless Norm! He took Ryan to the park, fed him lunch, changed a very dirty diaper (happily!), and took Ryan back to the duck pond (where Ryan finally decided to share the Cheerios with the ducks). I was thrilled that Ryan seemed to bond with Norm right away, and it was great to have a nice afternoon with Joyce.

In the evening, we brought Ryan into the pool with us. (The pool was heated!) Ryan loves the water, and has a very powerful kick! He had a great time splashing around.

On the 14th, we took Ryan to two different parks, both of which he really enjoyed. The weather in Indio was great! It was sunny and very warm, almost hot. In the evening, we took Ryan to get a picture with Santa at the mall. Ryan still is not crazy about Santa. I wound up having to get in the picture with him. Afterwards, we went to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. They have to-die-for avocado egg rolls. Yum! After dinner we went looking at Christmas lights. I always enjoy that, and I think Ryan did, too.

The next day, Joyce had an appointment, so she dropped me and Ryan off at the Children's Discovery Museum of the Desert. http://www.cdmod.org/exhibits/tour.php It was a really neat place, with lots of interesting things for kids of all ages. I was quite frustrated at first, because all Ryan wanted to do was run around, and I had to chase him to keep track of him! After a while he settled down a bit though, and then we both had a fun time.

Later on in the afternoon, Joyce and Norm watched Ryan so I could have a bit of time to myself. That was wonderful! I went to Old Navy and got some things, then went over to the mall. I went to my favorite store, New York & Co., and got three pairs of jeans and a belt for $69! They had some great sales, plus they give discounts to the military. After that, I made a mandatory Starbucks stop, then got a 15 minute chair massage. All in all, a very enjoyable and relaxing afternoon!

(That afternoon was the first time I'd driven a car since I got to the States. It was weird for literally only about ten seconds. After that, it was just like I'd never left.)

In the evening, we all went to the Living Desert to see their light display. We went last year and had a good time. It was neat this year, too.

Saturday the 16th was my last full day in Indio. Joyce and Norm and Ryan and I met a bunch of Norm's family for dinner at a Mexican restaurant. It was a fun time! At the end, a Mariachi gave Ryan a personal serenade!

Ryan and I had a great time visiting Joyce and Norm!

Florida

First, I'd like to wish Dalia and Ashraf a happy anniversary, and Savannah a happy birthday!

I'm trying something new with posting photos. To view the album for this entry, just click on the above thumbnail. It should take you to Picasa web albums. I like this better, and hope you do, too.

I believe I left off on Saturday, Dec. 9, watching the Shuttle take off. The next day, Paula hosted a Pampered Chef party at her house. Those are always fun! Of course I had to pick up a few things...

Monday the 11th, Paula and Olivia, and Ryan and I went to Blue Spring state park to see the manatees! They migrate to the springs in the winter, since the water is a constant 72 degrees. I don't know why, but I love manatees. I really enjoyed seeing them relatively close up, in their natural habitat.

Later on in the day, I successfully completed my first geocache. Yay! It was conveniently located nearby Freedom Playground, a really neat playground Ryan and Olivia had a great time playing in.

That night I stayed up way too late to get up way too early to catch a flight to CA. (Thank you Paula, for taking me at that ungodly hour!) I couldn't believe I'd been in the States a week already. Time does fly when you're having fun.

Happy birthday, Jean!

Happy birthday, Dad, Aunt Jean, and Larry!

Happy belated birthday to Shawny! (Sorry I missed it!)

Love,

~Holly and Ryan

Ryan and I are safely back in the UK. Everything went smoothly, pretty much. I am DEAD tired! I will start catching up on our whole trip soon.

This is Paula! - my wonderful friend and host for the next few days. :D (I took this picture just a little while ago!)

Ryan and I made it safely to Florida. The flight went well and was relatively painless.

I have just finished a glass of Lambrusco (with a strawberry in it). This is the life! :P