Happy Fourth Year!

Today is our 4th wedding anniversary and it's hard to believe we've only been married four years.  It has gone so fast and so much has happened in that short time.  I feel like I've known Cory my entire life, like he's always been with me and I just had to go down different paths until I found him.  He's the rock of our family and we are so blessed to have such a wonderful marriage.  I love our time together as a family but I truly love the moments when he & I get to spend time alone.  We are going to celebrate our anniversary this weekend at the Royal Palms in Phoenix.  I've got a room booked for one night, dinner reservations at T. Cook's and some time at the spa.  The kids are staying with the grandparents for the night so we can relax and enjoy a nice little overnighter.  I am SO excited!!!  

Here we are, five years ago, our engagement photo from July 2005.  Who knew that in five short years we would have 3 kids, 2 dogs, & a big house full of love!?!

This is my punishment....

for owning more beauty products than one person should ever own.  I'm pretty sure that R&R have inherited my love of products and they decided to "play" in our bathroom.  They unloaded my entire cabinet that holds hair products, face creams, vitamins, and tons of other beauty paraphernalia and laid it out on Ree's yellow blanket.  Then they filled the empty cabinet space with their plastic toy animals.  I was on the computer working and it was oddly quiet so I had to go see what was happening and this is what I found.  I thought it was so cute and had to put it on the blog to share.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was the shelf where the products sat and now it's home to fake animals sitting on top of $20 Avon face cream.

Haircuts

We got all got haircuts at Karen's house last week when her stylist came to the house.  It's nice because the kids can run around and play until it's time for their haircut.  Cory wants the girls' hair to be longer and I like it to stay above their shoulders so it's easier for me to style.  This is Ree getting her cut.  Unfortunately I didn't snap any good ones of Ry.

A day of R&R (kinda)

Usually when I say R&R I mean Reese & Ryan, but today R&R means rest and relaxation and it could not come at a more perfect time.  The girls are starting school next week and I have mixed emotions about it.  On one had I am excited that they will be in a loving classroom environment and learn from their teachers, on the other hand I am sad because I love having them home with me and getting to soak up all their fun & energy.  They are going on four years old and I'm still only putting them in preschool two days a week because I'm selfish and want them home with me the rest of the time.  I also figure that they have the rest of their lives to go to school and why rush it?  We have had a really busy summer with vacations and lots of extra curricular activities.  I have tried to keep the kids busy so they don't get bored but we have been almost too busy.  We have had something every day for the past few weeks--gymnastics, swimming, Great Play, playdates.  Today nothing was on the agenda and I was so excited.  We slept in, ate a late breakfast, stayed in our PJs for way too long.  The girls ended up going to my Mimi & Papa's house around noon for some lunch and swimming, but they are back home now and are resting.  There is a bit of cloud cover and some raindrops falling, which make the lazy day seem even better.  We have to soak it up because it's one of our last lazy days of summer before school starts.

It's finally paying off

This is our 5th year in our house and the previous four summers I have felt like our pool was more of a burden than an enjoyment.  It requires constant maintenance, repairs, our utility bill is higher because of it, we had to spend money on a new pool fence when we moved in, it takes up precious yard space where our toddler daughters could have been running and playing.  The list seemed to go on and on about why it was a pain.

But now I am singing a different tune. 

The girls have been taking swim lessons for 3 summers now and it's amazing how much they have improved this summer.  They are little fishies and can't get enough of the pool.  We have been spending every day in the pool, sometimes twice a day.  It's awesome and I am SO happy to have our pool this summer.  By 3:30pm (the hottest time of the day in my opinion) our entire pool and part of the deck area is shaded and we can just frolic and play in the pool before dinner.  It's such a great way to tire out the girls before bed if they've had a really long nap.  So, here's a big shout out to our pool and all the fun times we have to look forward to with having one in our backyard.

Stamps

Oh my, we had the funniest conversation with the girls this morning about tattoos.  Cory and I both have tattoos and the girls have been asking lots of questions.  It's so funny trying to explain tattoos to them.  Also, Cory and I have 2 different opinions about it. I regret getting mine and wish I could remove it and he wants to get another one.  This is our conversation today between the 4 of us:

Ree: Daddy what's that on your back?
Cory: It's a stamp.
Ree: Where did you get it?
Cory: San Diego
Ry: Where in San Diego?  What is the name of the store?
Cory: I don't know.
Ree: Mommy, what is the name of the store?
Me: I think it's called Stamp It Up (making something up)
Ree, telling Cory:  It's called Stamp It Up!!!
Cory:  I may get another stamp soon

I am giving him shut up eyes because I don't think we need to encourage more of these permanent drawings on our bodies.

Ry: I'm going to get a princess stamp on this arm and a unicorn stamp on this arm
Ree: I am going to get a coyote on my arm and Ryder is going to get a hyena.

At this point I'm picturing my family all sleeved with tattoos.  Help me now.  I told the girls that these "stamps" never come off your body and you really don't want one but you can decide for yourself many many years down the road.  Please excuse me as I go Google "Tattoo removal" now.

Movies

Our girls do NOT enjoy going to the movie theater at this age and it's so funny because we have tried on several different occasions thinking it's the movie they aren't liking but we strike out every time.  They like watching movies at home so I think it's the enormous screen and the really loud sounds that freak them out (is it just me or do they seriously crank up the volume so LOUD in the theater?).  Cory tried taking them to see Shrek a few weeks ago and they only made it through 1/3 of the movie.  Then I tried taking Ryan to see Ice Age with a summer movie pass and we walked out before the movie even started.  Casey & Susan had the girls this past Saturday for a few hours and they were going to take all the grandkids to see Despicable Me (which Reese pronounced Wis pickle men me).  Casey told me that they didn't even make it through the previews.  So we are now on movie theater hiatus.  I will wait until they ask beg to go see a movie.  Until then, they can enjoy movies on our little flat screen TV at home with the volume turned way down and Cory and I will be the ones to venture to the theater on our date nights out.

6 months

Our baby boy is 6 months.  Where is the time going?  Hard to believe we are halfway to his first birthday.  We visited Dr. Matsumoto today and she said he's doing great and kept commenting on what a happy baby he is.  Here are his stats from the Dr's office-- weight is 16 lbs., 25 percentile; height is 28 3/4 inches, 90 percentile.  He received 3 shots today and is kinda cranky right now but that's because it's bedtime.  Mr. R is eating carrots, sweet potatoes, peas, prunes, and mashed bananas.  Let me tell you that he LOVES food!  This kid is always grabbing for my fork and when I feed him he's always got his mouth open and ready like a baby bird.  He can almost sit up on his own and when he's on his tummy he can "scoot" or kind of army crawl to get what he wants.  He's going to be a busy boy really soon.  Love you so much, Ryder.  You are the best son a family could ask for!!!

San Diego, part III

More photos of San Diego and our trip (I think I took 400 over 6 days!)  Jared, Jessica, & their baby boy make the cutest family.  They live in an apartment that is literally 2 doors down from the beach.  It's awesome.  It makes me miss SD and when I used to live steps from the beach 6 years ago. There is something about the smell of the salty ocean and air.  It's really good for the soul.  Here are a few more photos of their adorable family and my adorable family :)

Baby William after a bath

Cory and Ryder in the ERGO, he's comfy, I promise.

Cute little family.

Ryder might have red hair.  It's looks that way in the sunlight :)

Ree & Ry jumping off the beach wall.  We must have done this about 50 times each.

Trying to get a family photo with a wave rushing up.

This is the image we were hoping for

San Diego, part II

 

 Jess holding Ryder and William

 

Jared and I with his baby boy

Mimi & Ryan by the harbor

 Hermit crab adventures....Thanks, Uncle Jared.

Seal watching in La Jolla

Mr. R with his girlfriend, Miss K, born 3 weeks apart, meeting for the first time.

 

Four generations--Louis Whyte, Richard Louis Whyte, Cory Alan Whyte, & Ryder Louis Whyte

 Ryder with his 2 great-grandpas

 R&R found Gigi's makeup and Mardi Gras beads right away.