Happy Birthday Jesus!

This morning at church, they gave all the kids a cake mix and frosting to celebrate Jesus's birthday. We had a great time this afternoon making the cake together. Ryan helped us pour and mix the ingredients, and we waited patiently while it baked. We frosted the cake and then added sprinkles. It was great fun, even though it got a little messy a few times! And of course, what's a birthday cake without candles?! Check out a video on our youtube link over there on the right to see a smidgen of the celebration :)

Happy Birthday Jesus!!

It's a ....

Girl!!

We are super excited to know that we'll be having a little girl in April! It was great to see her on the ultrasound today! Haven't settled on a name yet, but hoping to have one picked shortly. Also looking forward to planning her room and buying lots of pink :) Coleson brought me beautiful pink roses today, and we picked out a little pink elephant blanket for her! So fun!

Kitty Cats & Corn Dogs

Today when Ryan and I got home from running errands, the neighborhood stray cat was sitting in our driveway. Of course Ryan saw him from the car and his first reaction was "kitty!", followed immediately by bursting into a cry as the cat ran away. All I can think is he thought it was our Nellie kitty and she had run away. So I managed to convince him to come in the house (he really wanted to go find the kitty). Once we found Nellie and said hello to the kitty, all was better!

Then for lunch, I pulled the pregnancy comfort food card. Ryan still ate his veggies, but after that we both had a corndog and macaroni. Yummy!! It was Ryan's first corndog, and he loved it! No surprise though since he enjoys hotdogs so much. It was fun eating the corndogs together, dipping them in ketchup and then eating them right off the stick. Ryan really enjoyed that we were eating the same exact thing and most of our corndog bites had to be taken at the same time. Silly but fun! And yes, I promise we usually eat a little more nutritiously than this- I can't remember the last time I had a corndog. But sometimes you just gotta do what ya gotta do!

Ryan's Hat

Last winter, we could not keep a hat on Ryan. He was always pulling them off and wanted nothing to do with them. Yesterday I put a hat on Ryan at about 4:00 in the afternoon, while we were babysitting and playing outside. Not only did he not immediately take it off, but he decided he liked it a lot. A whole lot. He wore it all evening and slept in it all night. This morning it was still on. I have made him take it off for a few seconds every so often to make sure his ears were okay. But other than that he wore it all day today too. Then just like that, about 7:30 tonight, he took it off, handed it to Daddy, and the 27 hour hat marathon was over. Or at least we made sure it was - he has since had a bath to clean up all the matted hat hair and we didn't give him the option of putting it back on! Two year olds are so much fun and so silly!!

Thanksgiving

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We enjoyed a nice, relaxing four day weekend and lots of time with family. It was good to stay in town and not have to pack or travel :) Thursday we had a delicious feast at Nana and Pop-Pop's house. It was great to have most all the siblings in town (missed you Mackenzie!). We ate, kinda sorta decorated for Christmas, played cornhole (Chrissie and I beat the boys!), and just hung out. The girls enjoyed some time away too - saw New Moon, yay!

Today we got our tree and spent the afternoon decorating the tree and house. Hard to believe it's already Christmas time! Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays!

Catch-Air Playdate

Yesterday afternoon Ryan and I went to Catch-Air. We had a great time playing with our buddies! Here are a few photos of the fun:


Madeleine & Ryan lounging in the ball pit


Cole got Ryan upstairs and play with the really big balls!


Peyton and Ryan in the balls

Pregnant!!

In case you couldn't guess from the title of this post, I'm pregnant!! I'm 17 weeks along, due April 20th!! We are so super excited and blessed!! Not sure yet if it's a boy or girl, should know in a month or so, although we don't think we care either way. Ryan is looking forward to being a big brother... alright, alright, I don't think he understands at all. When we ask about the baby in mommy's belly, he does point to my belly. But of course, he then points to his belly and to Daddy's belly. As we get farther along and my belly gets bigger, I imagine he'll understand it a little more. :)

happy halloween!

Happy Halloween!!

We went to a fall festival with Nana on Saturday

Trick or treat Pop-Pop

and trick or treat to Grandma & Grandpa too

our little scarecrow

visiting Madeleine, the hula girl

Pumpkins with Madeleine

Ryan and I went to visit a pumpkin farm on Wednesday with our good friends Tara & Madeleine. We had a great time - Ryan & Madeleine always have so much fun together, I love it!! Of course, the kids enjoyed the slides and just running around the best. But there was plenty of fall fun too- pumpkins, a pony ride (although Ryan refused to get on!), a pumpkin wagon ride, beautiful fall colors. Happy Halloween!


too busy playing to actually pose :)

so cute! Can't wait to pull these out when they're 15!

classic plastic slide - awesome fun

Taking turns with Madeleine's new bike

Big boy eater

Ryan sat at his booster chair with us for dinner and actually ate everything that mommy & daddy did!! It was so awesome. We all eat together most every night, but Ryan usually eats something different - chicken fingers, fish sticks, etc. But tonight we all ate together and ate the same thing - oven roasted potatoes, carrots, and chicken cooked in Italian dressing. He had a smaller portion of all three and was so cute & grown up sitting there using his fork to feed himself just like a big boy. Don't know if he's really grown up over night or if it's mental since he's two now, but all of a sudden he's not a baby anymore. Still not sure how I feel about that - sad and happy all at once!

Pumpkins!

Ryan had a great time at Burt's pumpkin farm with Grandma & Grandpa one day last week. Sounded like a good trip: lots of pumpkin pictures, a hayride, pumpkin bread, a new pumpkin cup, lunch at El Rios. Hopefully Coleson and I can make it to a fall festival/ farm of some sorts with Ryan, but if not, we'll be able to experience pumpkin season through these pictures! Thanks Grandpa & Grandma!

Suzzette & Chris

Clay, Suzzette, & Jo-Ann

the Chase clan

us!

Last weekend we drove up to DC with Sarah and Maxim for Suzzette & Chris's wedding. It was a long drive, but a beautiful wedding! Everything was awesome and they looked so happy. It was also great to see the extended Chase family for the second weekend in a row! Best wishes to the newest newlyweds!

Tyler & Jennifer!

sneaking in some beach time while in Destin!

Jennifer's bachelorette party

all us kids

my babies!

we's so cute

um... not so cute :)

Congratulations Tyler and Jennifer!! We enjoyed a nice trip to the beach, a wonderful week of fun, a beautiful wedding, and perfect weather! We love you both and wish you lots of love & happiness!

Two years old!

Ryan had his two year checkup this morning. He is doing great, strong and healthy! He is 35.5" tall - 83 percentile. And 29lbs which puts him in the 62 percentile. He has 16 teeth, only 4 to go - his two year molars although they aren't even erupting yet (they may not come in until as late as three). I guess that's all for the exciting stats. :)

Catch Air!

Auntie Sarah & I took the boys to Catch Air this morning to play and celebrate Ryan's birthday. The place was so amazing and we had a wonderful time. There were so many things for little ones to do and since it was all designed for them, it was safe and unstressful for the adults too! We loved it!!

Birthday Dinner!

Hard to believe that Ryan turns two tomorrow!! We began the celebration last night with a cookout with some family and friends. Ryan really enjoyed playing with his friends and eating hotdogs & cake!


Ryan with Grandpa, Grandma, Pop-Pop, and Nana


Sarah & Maxim, Amy & Ryan, Tara & Madeleine


with Auntie Sarah & cousin Maxim


Cole & Dax

Peek-a-boo

Not sure how this started, but one of Ryan's new favorite games is peek-a-boo with his sippy cup. He gets a kick out of hiding behind it, or when it's a little emptier he peers at you through the clear top half. Great fun indeed!

~~Corn Maize~~

A couple of weeks ago Aunt Lolly & Uncle Brian came home for the weekend. We had a great time visiting with them, seeing some wedding photos, and hanging out at the corn maize! Ryan did really well at the maize. He led the way for us and had very strong opinions on which way to go when we came to the forks. We also enjoyed a jumping pillow and playing on the little tractors.

Happy Fall!

New Orleans!

We took a family vacation to New Orleans for a few days in late August. We had a wonderful time and really enjoyed the city. Highlights include:

*Stopping at the USS Alabama on the drive down

*French Quarter, Jackson's Square, and beignets at Cafe du Monde

*Walking the riverwalk, seeing boats!

*Riding the St Charles Streetcar & eating pecan waffles

*The insectarium

*City Park

Even with Ryan, we had a great time. There is plenty to do with children and hopefully we can make it back again someday soon. We ran out of time with all sorts of fun stuff still to do!

August Highlights

Ryan was a great help washing the car!

Mommy & Ryan took a quick trip to visit Maxim & Auntie Sarah & Uncle Christian. Maxim & Ryan wearing super cool Ocean City tshirts from Nana.

This just about sums up all of Ryan's waking moments. He loves his blocks!!

Laura & Brian

Laura & Brian had a beautiful wedding on August 1st. It was a perfect day and everything went super smoothly. We all had a great time and Laura looked so pretty! In case you missed the big day, there are only a couple hundred pictures in my picasa that you can check out. Link over there on the right to my photo album and you can figure it out from there (hint: it's the album that called "Laura's Wedding").

Laura and Brian are actually coming home this weekend to go to the VT-Bama game. While they are here, we are meeting with the photographer to see all the professional shots, exciting!

Congratulations Laura & Brian!! I love you guys!!

Second Cousins