Beautiful Girl

I've been wanting to get some pictures done of Breanna for some time now and for whatever reason the timing is just never right. Well yesterday, she decided she was going to get all ready and have me take some of her, she even let Ryan join in a few at the end, but it was not until I downloaded these pictures that I realized we are going to have some serious issues on our hands in the boy department soon . . .

Dress Shopping

Saturday Breanna and I went with her friend Brittany and Brittany's mom, Vicki, to shop for the girls 8th grade graduation dresses. It was a GIRLS ONLY day and was a wonderful one!

We had a slow start but once we finally got to the mall we started with having lunch at BJ's which of course was followed by a Pizzookie for dessert. Then we headed off to the stores in search for that perfect dress. In the end we ended up finding their dresses at Macy*s, lucky for me I was able to use a coupon and saved $20 off which brought her dress down to a woppin $39.00! After Macy*s we headed to Claires for some accessories which some how ended up being more than the dress, then it was off to find shoes. The graduation is on their field so the thought of my 13 year old in heels, getting stuck in the grass on her way to the stage for some reason terrified me so we ended up finding shoes at DSW and went with a very simple flat black patent flip flop style.

We ended the day, well my portion of it, at Chili's. When the waiter came to give us our check we were then told that someone had taken care of our bill!!! We still do not know who it was. The girls (and us) were so confused. The waiter proceeded to tell us that he was just as confused because he was new there and that had never happened to him before, which Breanna then replied "So we are your first?" Then Brittany asked the waiter if we were being Punked and if Ashton Kutcher was going to be coming out, which the waiter replied "Don't you wish". Too funny! So to the older gentleman with silvery hair (this was the only discription we got from the waiter) A BIG THANK YOU!!!!

Here is a picture of the girls in their dresses:

6 months old!!

Can you believe it? Half a year has gone by since the little man entered the world!

Took him for his 6 month checkup, which included another round of 3 shots poor guy, last Friday which was the day before he actually turned 6 months. His stats came in at 17lbs 13ounces and 26 3/4 inches. We've got a good solid healthy boy on our hands. He is LOVING food, veggies more than fruits amazingly. Overall we have a very happy healthy boy! THANK GOD!!!

To celebrate that night we took him to his very first A's game! And they won! YAHOO!!! Unfortunately Breanna did not get to go with us, bummer!! Next time!!

Here are his 6 month pictures and one from the game. Remember to see them bigger you can click on the image and it will open up bigger in a new window:

She's BAAAAAACK!

Ok so its been a little over a week but Breanna is back and had a GREAT time! In my opinion they did entirely way too much with these kids in the 3.5 days (techcnically) they were there.

She also did not get to take very many pictures, apparently they only wanted 1 student per group to take pictures so the others could pay attention and "take it all in". Then they are suppose to share, which we are still waiting for.

She had fun, she saw a lot, all in all great trip for her!! Oh and yes, mom is still jealous . . papa too!

Someone is full of himself

So last night Ryan was in rare form and I was able to capture this quick little video of him . . .





I am still waiting to get him doing his "No, No, No" head shake. Every time he is doing it and I grab the camera he stops . . . clearly he knows I'm trying to capture it.

DC Bound

My baby girl is on her first big trip without us! She left Tuesday morning, bright and early at 3AM to DC with about 30 other classmates, I think there was 45 total including adults.

This is such an awesome opportunity for her I am extremely jealous and proud of her to be able to get this experience. Some of the things she will be visiting include:

Colonial Williamsburg
Jamestown Settlement
Ghost Tour at the W & M President's House
Mt. Vernon - Home of George Washington
National Archives
National Cathedral
Washington Monument
World War II Memorial
Kennedy Center
US Capitol Visitor Tour
Library of Congress - Supreme Court (VERY jealous of this one!)
US Airforce Memorial
Iwo Jima Marine Memorial
Arlington National Cemetery - Kennedy Gravesites - Tomb of the Unknown Soldier - Changing of the Guard
Lincoln - Korean - Vietnam Memorial
Fords Theater
Holocaust Museum
Smithsonian Air & Space Museum
Museum of American History - Natural History Museum


All of that, and more over the course of 4 days! I have a feeling I will have one EXTREMELY exhausted child come Sunday. She gets home Saturday night around 10:30 and I'm sure she will be ready to hit her bed hard. I've gotten a few texts from her and she is having a good time so that is a relief!

Miss her already!!!

Easter

A few days late but HAPPY EASTER . . . or as I like to say HAPPY BUNNY DAY!

We had a very mellow day, including spending the ENTIRE day in our jammies! It was WONDERFUL!!! Here are a few pics of the kids . . . enjoy . . .

Ryan says "OOOH That looks like fun!"


Brea & Ryan dying eggs - ok really Brea but Ryan was there too . . .



Helping Sissy open her Easter basket



Ryan's first glove



"hmmm what else is in here?"



Picking up the eggs



Cuties!



"Watch Sissy, I can pick it up let me show you"

Spring is here!

Although this week we are suppose to get some rain, it is clear that spring is here. Sniffly noses, itchy eyes. . . aww the fun of allergies! Oh and don't forget baseball season too.

I also believe that Ryan is going through a growh spurt and most likely teething. Or maybe its the joy of daylight savings time that is messing him up. All I know is that whatever is causing him to wake up 2-3 times a night lately needs to go away! We discovered this weekend we have a sitter! Although still a bit wobbly after sitting for a few seconds/minutes he is getting the hang of it. Ryan sported his first A's shirt and cap this weekend and was just too cute to not get a couple of pictures.

Hippity Hoppity Easter's on its Way!!!

I went with Grandma today to take Ryan to visit the Easter Bunny. This was a hard thing because Daddy and Sissy couldn't be there but none of us wanted to brave the mall on the weekend and since Easter is next weekend, I was running out of options. So while I was "working from home" today, we quickly ran to the mall when it opened to get our picture . . .

High School bound

Well I have been dreading this day and now it is here. I had to register Breanna for her high school classes. HIGH SCHOOL . . . REALLY??? Wasn't it just last week that I was taking her out of Maria's home daycare and putting her in Little Lambs Christian PreSchool? Apparently not!

Her teachers warned me a few weeks ago, when I went to her parent conference, that they were recommending that she take advanced classes, she has always been in advanced classes so this wasn't really a huge shock to me. However, the thought of her being in all advanced classes as a freshman entering high school did concern me a little. I didn't want her to be bored and I want her challenged but at the same time I also don't want her to struggle. But, apparently this isn't Burger King and I can't have it my way . . . all of the time. We ended up going with her teachers and HS Counselor recommendations based on her grades and test scores so next year my "baby" girl will be in the following classes:

English 9 Advanced
Health Advanced / Computer Applications
Algebra 2 Advanced
Biology Advanced
PE
Spanish 1

and Volleyball - if she makes the team


Seems like a pretty intense schedule to me but I'm confident she can do it. Here is her recent spring school picture, just another minor little dig at me that says "your baby isn't so much a baby anymore" . . .

Ride 'em Cowboy!

Well we knew it would happen sooner than later . . . Ryan took his first ride yesterday, 3/21/10, at 5 months old. Once again another first with his big sissy, who was just a TAD nervous, but did great! It was a quick ride on old BJ, who is now 31, we pray everyday that BJ stays with us a few more years so Ryan can enjoy him as well. Here are a few pictures and 2 quick (VERY QUICK) videos . . . enjoy









Here we go . . .


And they're off . . .


We also had a girls/kids day on Saturday with some hanging out . . . for whatever reason I took no pictures, even though I had my camera out GRRR. Janin spent the night so mom got one of us on Sunday before Ryan's big ride that came out pretty cute . . .

5 months old!

Ryan is already 5 months old! SERIOUSLY??? If I had to guess I would say he is about 17lbs and is wearing size 6-9months. I actually had to go out and buy some cooler outfits because all of his clothes had been long sleeved.

He is loving food, and current favorite is green beans! Enjoy the video



Rolling over both tummy to back and back to tummy, just not all at once yet. I can still wait a little while for him to do that yet thanks! As well as scooting around a little, I think this is actually an added benefit of him trying to roll over that makes him scoot. NO video of that yet but I will get one soon!

Here is a couple new pics, including one this morning . . .

BUELLER . . . BUELLER . . . BUELLER

So I kind of feel like I'm living my life in a fog right now. Remember watching Ferris Bueller's Day off when you were a kid . . . BUELLER, BUELLER, BUELLER . . . I'm not exactly sure what has been going on but I have apparently been too busy to update lately. Where have I been? . . . Around Doing what? Nothing really . . . Still job searching but hoping that will be coming to an end SOON! I really shouldn't complain because it has really given me the flexibility I need right now while Karie (Ryan's babysitter) is doing her coaching for volleyball. However it is getting rather old to not have a permanent home and actual work to do. With that said . . . on a quick note here is what we have been up to the last few weeks . . . The weekend of 3/5 our good friends, The Shepards (Geoff, Kellie, Keegan & Evan, came to visit. It was also the anniversary of when Steve purposed to me as well as Kellee's birthday, you know just another excuse to enjoy good friends company. This was their first time meeting Ryan. We had a great visit! Good food, a few cocktails, Backyard Bingo (ok its really a card game called Back Alley Bridge but after a few drinks we can never remember the "real" name so it has inherited this name), an ADULT ONLY dinner out, the boys played golf and the girls went and got pedis! Sunday we also surprised them with visit of some other friends that we met through them last year. All in all - GREAT WEEKEND!!!








The following Sunday, 3/14, the kids and I made our way to Sacramento for a great friends son's 4th birthday party. It was a swim party at an indoor pool place. The pool was nice and heated and the building was nice and humid. This momma was so not getting into a bathing suit so thankfully I had Breanna there with me! She took Ryan in for his first swim and he ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT!! He clearly loves and trusts his big sissy!! Oh and please notice the bikini that my 13 year old has on . . . SIGH . . . Grandma is still having problems seeing her in it . . .









By the time it was time to come home Ryan was D-O-N-E with being in the car and his carseat. Its about a 2.5 hour drive one way so you can imagine. On the way home Breanna climbed in the back to attempt to "entertain" him . . . I'll let you see this little video and let you make the decision on wheter or not she succeeded . . .

Sissy is SO funny!

I can scream AND blow bubbles!!

Ryan has found his voice and has mastered the art of blowing bubbles and making the "phbbbt" sound . . . here is a little sample, enjoy :-)

What is this funny stuff??

Ryan's dr told me to start him on foods (cereal, fruits and veggies) at 4 months. Well when he turned 4 months old last week I wasn't quite ready to do this. I kept thinking "this sure seems early" "I don't remember starting Breanna before 6 months" etc etc.

Every night when we eat dinner, Ryan sits in his high chair at the table with us and stares at all of our plates and at all of us eating. Almost as if he was saying "Um excuse me but I think you forgot my food" or "Hey how about you give me a little bite of that" Well last night we gave in. Started out with just plain rice cereal, and he did not care for that so much. So I went and got some applesauce and did a combo thing and he LOVED it! Excuse the messiness of scratch on his eye (poor baby) and the messy bib, it received more food than Ryan did I think.









Uncle Sal happened to come over and thought Ryan should actually be eating what we were eating instead of this "mushy" stuff . . .




Another thing I forgot to post about is that we officially have a roller!! Mom, Dad and Grandma have all seen Ryan roll from tummy to back. He has even somehow figured out how to scoot, when laying on his back AND tummy. Maybe we need to start calling him "inchworm".

My little Valentines

Valentines Day came and went. It was a very mellow day and we did not do much. Breanna was with her dad for the weekend so I went and picked her up. Before that Steve had surprised me with beautiful red roses and a box of pb cups . . . YUMMY!

Here are a few pictures I was able to get of my two little Valentines . . .









And last but not least a "bath time" shot of Ryan. Every now and then I wonder if his eyes are going to stay blue. Some days they look EXTREMELY blue and others they seem darker. Well in this picture it sure looks like there is no chance of them changing! Lets keep our fingers crossed!!

First cold - BOO!

Well it was bound to happen sooner or later . . . Ryan is experiencing his first cold. BOO!! The sucky part is that there is relatively nothing I can do for him except wait it out. The good part is that he is not running a fever and has not lost his appetite - aside from not wanting to nurse vs taking the easy way out and going for the bottle. The humidifier on at night is helping a little, I think so we will continue with that and watch for any signs of him getting worse.

Steve also has it, which means that with both my men having it I was bound to get it too right? YEP! Sure enough, today I am experiencing the first signs which means laying LOW this weekend! Mucinex and Nyquil here I come! Thankfully Breanna is with her dad this weekend so hopefully she will not get it, especially since she is out of school next week for "winter break/ski week".

Baptism

Saturday came and went and all went perfectly! We were a little concerned with the weather, especially when it started raining Friday evening, considering we were expecting close to 50 people! Lucky for us the dark clouds parted and the sun came out and it could not have been more beautiful!!

The service was wonderful, Father Larry did an excellent service. Ryan did pretty darn well considering he had 40+ cross signs made on his forehead blessing him, and had shots the day before at his well check visit. I on the other hand was sweating the entire time, thanks to the vicodin I took to subside my pain from my incident on Wednesday.

My friend Paige once again took some GREAT pictures . . . here are just a few for you to enjoy, ignore my "stuffed sausage" look, I swear it was bloating from the ruptured cyst haha.

Church Sign:




Looking up at the front of the church:



Picture with Father Larry - although you can hardly see him behind us:



My family!!



Breanna and Ryan:



Ryan with his Godparents - Sal and Janin:



With my mom:


LOVE this picture!



Rare photo op! Steve and his dad



I love how Ryan is laughing at Sal in this picture:



Me and Ryan with my Aunt - the only family I have left on my dads side. Wish he was still here!