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: