Happy Birthday Ryan!

Today, 11-11-11, is Ryan's 3rd Birthday! I can't believe he is 3 already. Ryan is a kind, sensitive, loving and energetic little boy. He brings joy and laughter to our home every day. Currently Ryan loves dump trucks, fire trucks, singing while playing his guitar, and much, much more. He will talk your ear off if he knows you well but if he doesn't know you well, you would think he couldn't talk. He is constantly looking out for Tyler, making sure Tyler is not getting into any trouble. If Tyler attempts to do something or go somewhere he shouldn't Ryan usually lays on top of him or grabs Tyler by the legs and pulls him back. Tyler is usually not so happy with this help from him big brother.

Last weekend, we had Ryan's birthday party. It was a Dump Truck Party! Ryan was expecting a big party like Tyler just had so I tried to make it special for him. Everything was yellow, black and orange, like a construction site. I made construction signs for decorations and served the food out of industrial yellow buckets. There were orange cones and hard hats for decorations. His cake turned out quite nice...we made a dirt cake and served it in the back of his dump truck. The dirt cake was spilling onto the cake that was decorated as a road work scene with construction cone candles. Marc decorated the cake! He did a great job in my opinion!

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween! We have had a great Halloween weekend and Halloween! This past Saturday we went to our annual Halloween party at a neighbor's house. Always a good time! Ryan even got to play Ghost in the Graveyard with all the kids! He came home saying, "1 o'clock, 2 o'clock, 3 o'clock." Today Marc and I took the afternoon off work to trick-or-treat with everyone and Grandpa Bill came to spend Halloween with us! Our family had another family costume theme this year. Ryan wanted to be a fireman so...Tyler was a dalmatian, I was the fire hydrant and Marc was the fire! Marc even had flash paper (something magicians use), which made him look like he was throwing fire. We all had fun dressing up today! We trick-or-treated for a few houses but Ryan always has more fun handing out candy at our house to the others. A great Halloween had by all!


Poor Tyler isn't happy in this picture but he was hungry and we wanted to get a picture before the costumes came off.

Happy Birthday to my Baby!

I can't believe my baby is 1 year old today! Time has flown by! Our Tyler loves to stand and is starting to cruise around the furniture, he can crawl up the stairs by himself (with a watchful eye nearby) and he wants to do everything big brother is doing. He no longer wants his bottle and he wants NOTHING to do with baby food or anything that resembles baby food. He continues to be a happy and content baby. We are so blessed!



Last weekend we had Tyler's birthday party! We had a great time! It was sports ball/ball theme...I used gumballs and circles to decorate. Dad made a fantastic number 1 and covered it in gumballs! Thanks Dad! We had about 65 people here. Thank goodness it was a beautiful fall day and the kids could be outside in the bounce house and playing. Here are a couple pictures of the decorations:

Prolific Garden

We finally went to our garden today to pick some vegetables. It has been awhile since we picked anything. We had a prolific garden today...12 tomatoes, 1 beet, 1 huge cucumber, 1 green pepper, enough green beans for dinner and so many cherry tomatoes that Ryan couldn't eat them all before we got back inside.



Probably should have picked the cucumber before now :)

My Morning Run

This summer I have tried to be diligent about going for my morning walk/run on the days I don't have to work. My parents bought me my running stroller for my birthday and I absolutely love it! Thanks mom and dad! I learned in school that people should exert themselves at a pace that allows them to have a conversation while exercising. Each morning my boys give me a lesson in exertion. As I am pushing my giant stroller with 50 pounds of boy in it and trying to run, Ryan talks the ENTIRE time! Here is an example of our conversations (in order to have a real understanding you must read the following words as fast as you can)...

Ryan: "Sunny out today mama? See the airplane mama? Airplane going? Running now mama? For? ('For' is his version of 'why?') Hear the rooster mama? Where the rooster live mama? In those trees? See the moving trucks mama? What that moving truck doing mama? For? Who driving that moving truck? He got keys for moving truck? Tyler got his ball mama? For? Tyler trying to tickle me mama. Can I give Tyler high five mama? Mama, we in the shade now? Mama, we in the sun now? Walking now mama? For?"

Me: Breathe, Breathe, "Yes" Breathe, Breathe, "Yea", Breathe, Breathe

This goes on for about 30 to 40 minutes and yes, Ryan can talk without stopping for that entire time. I wouldn't change anything about our morning runs though...well, maybe I would...I wish I were in better shape so that I could answer all his questions beyond a 1 word response. I just love hearing what is going on in that brain of his. As for Tyler, as long as he has a ball in his hands, he is smiling from ear to ear and babbling the entire way. Here are my boys in the stroller...



Tyler with his ball -

Monkey See, Monkey Do

Ryan is a huge help around the house. Actually, if he starts to become a little unruly and you ask him to help with a project, his attitude changes tremendously for the better. He wants to help with whatever project Marc is working on. I thought I would post some pictures of Marc and Ryan working around the house recently.

Working on the basement...


Mowing the "yawn"...


Vacuuming the house...

"Dang gone it" 7 months old

Here is Ryan at dinner last night after spilling somepin' on his shirt. He said "Dang gone it, somepin on my shirt" without any prompting. I had to get him to repeat it on camera because it was so funny. He has a look of hesitation on the video, as if he shouldn't be saying the phrase.


Tyler is now 7 months old. He is such a happy baby, full of smiles. We are still working on the sleeping thing. He will take 2 short naps a day...well, short by my standards, only 1 1/2 hours long. He still wakes up in the night but it is a quick visit. He has his two bottom teeth and is in the process of getting the two top teeth. At this time he grinds his teeth together, which is like nails on a chalkboard to me. When Tyler is upset, Ryan soothes him by singing the ABC's. When Ryan starts singing, Tyler calms down immediately. Ryan continues to be a fantastic big brother. It has been fun to see the boys interacting with one another more and more each day.

7 Month Picture:

Easter

We had a great Easter weekend! Yesterday we dyed eggs. This year we chose to dye eggs in the bathtub to reduce the mess in the kitchen. It worked great! Ryan had fun coloring the eggs. Grandpa Bill came for the day on Sunday. We all went to church, had an Easter egg hunt, ate a big meal and played outside (the sun was finally out!). The Easter bunny left Ryan a scavenger hunt to find his eggs. He had to follow the clues inside each egg to lead him to the next egg. His Easter basket was waiting for him at the end! It was fun and relaxing weekend!

Dying eggs...


Easter egg hunt...We lost Ryan's hot wheels truck last weekend and he kept telling us the Easter bunny would bring him a new one. The Easter bunny heard his requests as he found a truck in this egg.


Boys with their Easter baskets and Ryan's new big wheel...


Ryan (saying "Cheeeeeese") and Tyler, who is always smiling...

Super Nanny

Last weekend we took a trip to Kansas to visit my grandma, aka Nanny to me and Super Nanny to Ryan. It was her 92nd birthday and my family all gets together to celebrate. We drove our NEW VAN 10 hours to Kansas on Thursday, spent Friday and Saturday there and came home Sunday. Yes, I said NEW VAN! As a side note, we bought a new Honda Odyssey about a month ago. I love it! Anyways, the boys were great travelers! We had a great visit with my grandma and saw alot of family. My grandma met Tyler for the first time. I think she really enjoyed hanging out with the boys. It was nice to get another 4 generation picture with my grandma, my dad, me and my boys. We were also able to hang out with my cousin and her kids. Hannah is 3 and Grant is 2 weeks younger than Tyler. The kids had lots of fun playing together. Here are some pics from our weekend...

Super Nanny with me, Tyler and Ryan...Ryan is saying, "Cheeeeeese!"


Hannah, Grant, Ryan and Tyler...


Four Generations...

It is almost impossible to get Ryan and Tyler (and my grandma) looking at the camera at the same time :)

Tyler is 4 Months Old

I can't believe Tyler is already 4 months old. His personality is really starting to shine. He now weighs 14 pounds 11 ounces. He smiles and laughs all the time. Tyler loves his brother...he is constantly turning his head to watch Ryan (or else he is protecting himself and making sure nothing is flying at him). Ryan has been helping Tyler learn to roll over. Ryan saw me practicing this movement with Tyler and a couple days later I heard Ryan cheering, "Yeah, Tyler rolled over!" from the other room. Come to find out, Ryan had helped Tyler roll over, which means he pushed him from his back to his tummy!

Tyler's likes:
-people
-Ryan
-looking at himself in the mirror
-sitting up (in the bumbo seat)
-sleeping and lying on his belly

Tyler's dislikes:
-loud noises (hard to avoid in the house with Ryan)

Tyler, protecting himself :)

Blizzard 2011

The 3rd largest blizzard recorded in Chicago came roaring through this week. I think we got somewhere around 20 inches of snow! Both of the clinics that Marc and I work for were shut down so we had a snow day! Marc worked really hard cleaning off our driveway and sidewalks. All of the neighbors were outside helping one another because it was difficult to clear your driveway by yourself. Marc then spent the rest of the day building a snow fort. The fort has 2 entrances - the entrance that you see in the pictures and one at the end of a 8 foot tunnel on the right. I was comissioned to make a flag for the fort. Unfortunately, Ryan was sick so he could not play outside nor did he want to play outside. At the end of the day he asked to put on his snow pants and go outside so we were able to get a few pictures.

Marc snowblowing the sidewalk...


Marc with his fort...


The ROLOMOTO fort flag...


Ryan with the snow...


Playing in the snow fort...

My Boys

Just thought I would share some recent videos of my boys. We have been having alot of fun as of late. We are all healthy...Tyler is very alert and happy as he interacts with everyone, especially his brother...and Ryan seems to grow everyday as he continues to learn new words and use full sentences.

Tyler is 3 1/2 months old now. He is such a patient and happy boy. I had to lay down the law and do some sleep training with him last week. He was only sleeping for short 30minute naps during the day and sometimes waking up every couple hours at night. I like my sleep and my boys need to like their sleep too. It is never fun to let him cry but we worked for one week on a schedule and by day 4 he was sleeping for 1 1/2 or 2 hours twice a day for his naps, getting up once a night and sleeping in until 7am without any crying! He is now sleeping much better and he is even happier and practicing his words, smiles and giggles whenever he is awake! It is so much fun to see his face light up when he catches us looking at him. Here is a short clip of Tyler this morning talking to me...


Ryan is always full of energy but I wouldn't have it any other way! He continues to amaze us with his vocabulary and sentences. Some of my favorite Ryan phrases are, "No thank you please," "Mommy/Daddy doin'?" and he uses the word 'no' in place of 'don't,' such as "No get me," when he and Marc are chasing one another around the house. He has nothing but love for his brother and always wants to be near Tyler. "Where go Tyler go?" is his first question when he wakes up every morning and after his nap. Tyler must be facing Ryan at every meal time and if not we hear, "Can't see Tyler!" or "Tyler can't see me!" When we go somewhere at night in the car, he wants the light on in the van so he can see Tyler. One of our favorite recent pasttimes is dancing to a CD given to Ryan by our friends the Larsons. There is a song on it called 'Silly Dance Contest,' which is his favorite. Here is a clip of Ryan (and me!) dancing to the Silly Dance Contest...


My boys, yes all 3 of them, like to play ball - any kind of ball - in the house...football, baseball, tennis, basketball. Here is a clip of the boys playing football, even Tyler :)

The Dreaded Week After Christmas

Unfortunately, Tyler became sick the Thursday before Christmas. He had a fever and developed pink eye. But that was nothin'...the week after Christmas Tyler and Ryan had pink eye in both eyes, ear infections and bronchitis. The bronchitis required the use of a nebulizer every 4 hours! This was all new to us. By the end of the week, Marc and I both had colds and mine turned into an ear infection and a sinus infection! I still cannot hear out of my right ear! After 24-48 hours on the antibiotics, both boys and myself were feeling better but it has taken us a couple of weeks to get everything back in order! Just thought I would share some of our pictures...
Tyler on the nebulizer...

Ryan on his nebulizer

I have to believe that we had our share of winter sickness and we will be healthy for the rest of the season!

Christmas!

We had a great Christmas season this year! It started by cutting down our Christmas tree the weekend of Thanksgiving. Ryan was such a big help and Tyler stayed warm in my coat:)



We went to visit Santa at our church and Ryan made some Christmas crafts. We made Christmas cookies and also played in the snow.






My family came to our house on Christmas Eve and Christmas day to celebrate. Santa was very good to us but Ryan's favorite gift was his McDonalds Drive-Thru (a hand-me-down from the neighbors)!