Thursday, May 19, 2011

Last weekend we took the training wheels off Ryan's little bike.



Today he starting riding!



Good job, Ryan!!

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Mourning the loss...

Sadly, Elfie (or, Chad) the fish has passed away.

After I got the text from Jake, I called the house to find out what was going on. Ryan got on the phone and said, "Mommy, Elfie is sideways!" I tried not to laugh much because the way he said it was so cute so I said, "Sideways? What's he doing?" Ryan said, "Um....maybe killing." (I think he meant dying.) And then he was sidetracked by the snail on the sidewalk and didn't want to talk anymore.

We noticed yesterday that Elfie was swimming a little slower and not really reacting to the fish food sprinkled in his bowl.

And so we move on...maybe more fish are in our future!?

Monday, May 16, 2011

Homecoming Parade Fun

This past weekend was the Kings County Homecoming festivities, including the ever-so-fun Homecoming Parade! Ryan LOVES parades! He likes the bands the best because he likes to watch and hear the drummers.



Here's my little goofball being silly before the parade started.



And me with my friend's daughter, Jacey.






The kids had a blast watching the parade (the horses, bands and clowns were all a hit)! After the parade we spent some time in the park at the Civic Auditorium. All the kids won a gold fish playing a game in the park. Ryan first named his fish "Chad Reid" which is hilarious if you know Ryan at all. Chad Reid is a motocross rider! And he's the rival of Jake's favorite rider! Haha! Anyway, now the fish is named "Elfie" because yesterday Ryan saw a picture of our family from Christmas time and our "Elf on the Shelf," Elfie was in the picture with us!



I'll post pictures of Ryan and Elfie soon! :)

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Let the Swimming Begin

Yesterday was Ryan's first swimming lesson! Since we started talking about swim lessons at the beginning of the year, Ryan has been "afraid to go under water" and I was a little nervous about how well he would to on his first day. Swim lessons start a little after I get off work so Jake has to drop him off. But I made sure I had no other plans after work last night so I could be there to pick him up.



I sort of figured that Ryan would cry a little. It was pretty much the first time we were leaving him with strangers (parents cannot be there to watch until the last 2 days of lessons next week) and he already had a fear of going under water.

So when we got there to pick Ryan up and we heard crying coming from the pool area, I was pretty sure it was my kid. There were about 4 - 5 mothers standing outside the gates when we walked up. I was concentrating listening to determine if it was in fact Ryan doing all the crying. One of the mothers said, "I think that's my girl." I said, "Nope...pretty sure it's my kid!" I felt SO BAD that I couldn't just bust through the gate, scoop up my kiddo and take him home with me right then! When the instructors called "Towel Time" that meant we could go through the gate and (rescue!) pick up our children. We were the last parents in the gate and there sat my child, crying with a red face, sitting on the step in the pool. One of the instructors was sitting at his side trying to calm him. Jake asked, "Did he stop crying at all?" She said, "Um, for about a minute. But it's all right." I scooped him up, wrapped in his towel, threw his sweater on his head and got him in the car.

Needless to say, he didn't so much like swimming lessons. We bribed him with a "big swimming pool" for our backyard if he would continue the swimming lessons with no more tears. His response to this bribe, "And you'll get me a dirt bike?" HAHA!! Yeah, sure, why not!! :)

He will be going back to swimming lessons today. Swimming lessons will last for 2 weeks. I cannot wait to see how much he learns and progresses over the next 2 weeks! I'm really hoping he does better today. I think that we talked it up enough last night that he should be fine after today's lesson. Stay tuned for an update with pictures!

Sunday, May 8, 2011

A Fabulous (Mother's) Day!

We had a wonderful day today - Happy Mother's Day to my mom, mother-in-law, sister and sisters-in-law!


This morning I was up early to finish some of the things we were going to enjoy for lunch after church. I went to church with my Grandma while Jake and Ryan stayed home and finished cleaning the house a bit for me. It was a great service at church today and I was so happy to be there with my Grandma!


After church, Mom & Dad, Grandma and my friend Jeri and her kiddos came over for lunch! We had such a great day! We BBQ'd burgers and enjoyed some fun in the back yard. (I am TERRIBLE) about taking pictures. I never remember my camera anywhere we go...even in our own back yard.) Just imagine you're looking at some cute pictures of Ryan playing with Jacey and Brody, playing baseball, golf toss and washers! Even us adults got in on the action and had some washers fun!


I hope all you mother's had a wonderful day enjoying your families and little loves!


Happy Mother's Day 2011.

Monday, May 2, 2011

Last night while we laid in bed watching the breaking news about the death of Osama Bin Laden, Ryan played with monster trucks not paying any attention to the tv. At one point I started to get a little emotional about the news and Jake asked if I was stressed out. Ryan heard Jake say this to me and out of nowhere says, "You're stretching ME out!" HAHA!! So thankful for a little one who can ignore the sad news stories and make me smile when I am "stretched out"!

Pictures & 100th Post

Wow, 100 blog posts? Already? Ok...so I've been slacking in the blog post area of life lately. Other things have been keeping me busy.

For example...

This cute little guy!



Ryan is full of energy and personality! DAILY Ryan plays with his monster trucks and dirtbikes. He will line them up, race them, make them climb over the couches, race them on the "track" and even take them outside and play with them in the dirt!


Ryan also rides his "dirtbike" everyday. He usually puts on his rain boots as riding boots, wears a helmet and even puts on knit gloves as riding gloves! This kid loves to ride!


One night a few weeks ago when Ryan slept in his own bed, I said "Please sleep in your bed all night. When the sun comes up, then you can get up!" He took my statement quite literally. The next morning when he got up, he came into my room with sleepy eyes and said, "Momma, it's cloudy outside, the sun didn't come up!" Ha! Poor kid, he was patiently waiting for the sun to come up/shine through his window so he could get out of bed!


We were able to leave the house a few minutes early last week and made a stop at Starbucks before dropping Ryan off at Nanny's house. While waiting in the drive-thru line, Ryan said, "Momma, you're the best!" Awe....I Love this kid! It was totally unprompted and I didn't even get him a Hot Chocolate and I'm still the best!!


Ryan has been busy playing outside since the weather has started warming up. He does not like to come inside in the evenings. One day last week he had been playing in the flower beds with his shovel and rake and had dirt everywhere...even smashed in his hair! I'd say his least favorite part of the day is having to wash his hair in the bath. Any suggestions on how to make that an easy task? I just try to hurry, get the least amount of water in his face, and let him cry it out! I use Johnson's baby shampoo on him, "No More Tears" and he still cries because he doesn't like the water in his face.


Easter was really fun this year! We had an early Easter celebration with the Fagundes family on Saturday. It was fun to watch Ryan and Natalie dye eggs on Friday night and then see them hunt the eggs on Saturday. Next year will be super fun when Liam is able to run around with them and hunt eggs too and the new baby (Michelle & David's!) will be the baby in the highchair!



Sunday morning Jake and I went to church (Ryan spent the night at Grammy & Papa's because it "wasn't fair that Natalie was staying and [he] couldn't"). It was a fabulous service with the Easter choir singing and tons of people there to celebrate! After church I picked up Ryan in Hanford and we came back to town for Easter with the Avila's. It was a fun day with all the kids. We played washers, golf toss and basketball all day and into the evening. There was no shortage of fun to be had that day!


This week Ryan will start t-ball and he is really, really excited! Then the following week he starts swimming lessons everyday for 2 weeks! I think this week is the beginning of a long, busy summer for us.