Apples to Zebras

The girls started preschool yesterday at Tumbleweed Rec Center and they really seemed to enjoy it. I had volunteered to bring snacks on the first day so we arrived a bit early so we could drop them off and get photos of the girls. They were running and playing with all the kids in the courtyard before class. It was cute to watch them interact. Their teacher, Miss Michelle, is an identical twin, so that's kind of special and she understands what it's like to be a twin. Reese looks less than thrilled, but she really was in good spirits. I just couldn't get a good shot.

Peas in a pod

These two love to sleep soundly in the morning. I couldn't resist snapping this photo.

Healing

This is Ryan's incision scar. It's healing nicely and I had the Dr. look at it today when I took all the kids today for Ryder's ear infection checkup. There are stitches under the skin that will dissolve and the outer layer is sealed with Dermabond, so it's similar to my C-section scar. We haven't been getting her head wet or washing her hair so it's a bit crusty and greasy on the back of her head, but it's helping it to heal that much faster.

Jess & Jared's Baby Shower

What a wonderful day.  We hosted Jess & Jared's shower for Baby Ryan at Mimi's house.  They are doing a monkey/jungle theme in the nursery and the decor for the shower turned out so cute.  It's always so much fun to get together with family and friends.  They are so blessed and we can wait to meet their little baby boy soon!

Entry table with cute baby photos of Jared.

Mr. R was all dressed up in his collard shirt and dark jeans

Me with my crew

Emmie, Carrie & Mr. R.

Awesome gift bag.

Jess w/ the grandmas

I did it!

I ventured out to lunch with all 3 kiddos.  Big move for me.  We met Dana & Mason at Oregano's and it was YUMMY!  So fun to have her in town for a visit.  I love spending time with Dana & her beautiful baby girl.

Suckered in

We really loved the hospital photos that were taken of Ryder and the company suckered us into buying a big daddy package (how could we not splurge on our only boy & last baby??). Anyhoo, the portrait company had all our contact information and called me when Ryder was about 4 weeks old. They said we had a free 8x10 with the package we bought at the hospital and they would come to our house and take photos of him for his one month birthday. So I let them come over and snap some photos. They turned out pretty cute. 

Bug Eyed Boo

Surgery Day

Ryan had her surgery today. It was scheduled at 10am and she & Cory arrived at the hospital at 8am. I got there a bit after 9am and we all waited in a pre-op room at the Cardon's Childrens Medical Center. The growth on the back of her head was called Nevus Sebaceous and it was about the size of a dime. It was something that is harmless right now but could potentially turn into cancer if left untreated. No thanks. That sucker was coming off ASAP. We had a wonderful Dr. and the staff was great. They gave Ryan a box of toys, let her pick out flavors to put inside her anesthesia mask, and gave her a car to ride in to the OR. She was in great spirits the entire time and we were informed by the staff that she was such a wonderful child :) Here are some photos of our hospital adventures:

Bump on the head, pre-operation

Playing with the Dora toys before surgery

All dressed up in her hospital gear.

Riding in the car on the way to surgery.

All done with surgery and we're going home with a bunny that's bigger than Ryan.

Doozy of a night

We are all sick so my days are blurring together, but we have had some crazy nights and there is one in particular that I must talk about. To set the story up I have to explain that a neighborhood cat has been coming in our house via the doggy door. It's happened twice that we know of. Our crazy night began around 12:30am. I was sleeping and was awakened by our screeching dogs in the other room. I knew instantly that the cat had come inside and was terrorizing our dogs. Cory jumped out of bed and chased the cat out of the house. We settled back into bed and then about a half hour later Ryan came into our room upset because she was coughing and had a fever. I got up and got her something to drink and gave her some Motrin for her fever. She got into our bed and we fell back asleep. As I laid my head on the pillow I smelled the foul smell of poop and realized that Maddie was having bowel problems (still not sure if she ate something bad or if the cat scared the poop out of her). There was poop stuck to her butt and she had gotten it on my pillow and Cory's pillow. I had to strip the pillowcases off and put the dogs in the laundry room. I went back to bed and fell asleep for about 10 minutes but woke up when I heard sippy cups falling in the pantry. I knew that Reese must be awake looking for something to drink. She does this often--goes to the pantry, gets a sippy cup, opens the fridge, and brings the entire jug of juice or milk into our room for us to pour her a drink. When I heard the cups falling I sprang out of bed and went into the kitchen to get her something to drink. We poured some soy milk in a cup and she drank away but said she wanted a snack. I gave her a banana to eat. She said she wanted to sleep in our bed and I was so tired and defeated that I just agreed. We settled into bed and it was about 3am at this point. I fell asleep almost instantly but Ryder woke me up at 3:30 to breastfeed. I was crosseyed. I fed him, burped him, changed his diaper, and put him back to sleep. I think it was almost 4:30 at this point. I seriously felt like I had been up all night long. Don't worry, it gets better. When I finally got out of bed at 8:30am I went into the laundry room to wash the poopy pillowcases and found that the dogs had pooped ALL over the laundry room. It was doggy diarrhea everywhere. I almost started crying. Cory helped me clean things up but that was the last straw for me. Since then I've been threatening that I'm going to find a home for our dogs. I feel like I can't take care of 2 dogs in addition to 3 kids. I know it's bad right now because the kids are sick and we haven't left the house in days except to go to the Dr., but that night was such a doozy for me.

Little BFFs

Dana has been one of my best friends since college and we've experienced lots of milestones together--turning 21 together, graduating from college, getting our first jobs, meeting our husbands, being in each others weddings, being pregnant together, and now experiencing motherhood together. Our babies were both born on January 7th, 2010 and they are SO adorable together!!! Her daughter, Mason is such a beautiful baby girl. She has such delicate features and the most amazing blue eyes. I'm so in love with her and she's the perfect mix of Dana and her wonderful husband, Scott. Ryder and I visited them this past weekend and captured some adorable shots of our babies together. I can't wait to watch these two little BFFs grow up together!!

Little besties hangin out in the Boppy together! Ryder is a solid 2.5 lbs heavier than Masey and it shows :) Could they be any cuter?!?! I could eat them up!

Scott was so sweet to grab my camera and take some shots of Ryder and I together. I don't have many of these as I'm always behind the camera.

What we've been up to

It's been a busy month for us at the Whyte house. Ryder celebrated his 2 month birthday on Sunday. He's growing and changing every day. We are getting tons of smiles and laughs out of him these days. The girls are signed up for gymnastics at Aspire Fitness center and they really like their class and teachers. Since they are 3 now I don't go into class anymore and get the luxury of watching through the windows. Their class is for 3-5 year olds and they are some of the youngest in the class but they are doing great (thanks to our 2 years of classes at Rolly Pollies :) R&R will also start preschool at the end of the month at Tumbleweed Rec Center. It's Tuesday/Thursdays from 9-11am and will be a great way to get their feet wet with preschool before they start at Risen Savior this fall.

We took a road trip last week and visited Flagstaff for the day. It has been cold and rainy here so we were excited to see how much snow Flagstaff had. We visited my dear friend, Kelsey, and her 4 kids. She has 3 boys and just had a baby girl, Corabelle, on November 13th. She is adorable and a great addition to the craziness of the Mercer house. We went sledding and it was the girls' first time in the snow. Unfortunately, I don't have photos of the sledding adventures, only video. The girls really liked the snow and it only took us about 2 hours to get up there, so we'll definitely be visiting again soon.

I've been working at the office and helping Cory with all the transactions we have. Ryder is the official baby of the Remax office. The girls will stay home with Bogusia on Mondays and I take Ryder with me everywhere I go.

Below are some recent photos from our adventures:

Ryder on his 2 month birthday

Ryder and I working at the office

Bath time! R&R are my biggest helpers.

Baby it's cold outside.

Ryder with his girlfriend, Corabelle

2 months old

Ryder is 2 months old and such a bundle of joy.  He's smiling a lot and starting to laugh.  He's very alert when he's awake but still loves to nap throughout the day.  He spends most of his time snuggling with me or watching his sisters from his bouncy chair.  We are so blessed to have such a wonderful baby boy!

Pretty baby

Since the beginning I've thought that Ryder was a beautiful baby but he looks especially pretty wrapped up in a pink blanket courtesy of his sisters.