Our little man

Our dear friend, Scott Berchman, took photos of Ryder this past weekend. I've only seen a sneak peek but I'm in love with the few I've seen.

 Look at all those teeth.  He looks so grown up in these photos.


 
Thank you, Scotty, for capturing some great photos of our baby boy!

Maddie's tree

We wanted to plant a tree in our backyard to remember Maddie.  Last weekend we all headed out to find a plant or tree that would suit little Maddie.  We looked around a bit and decided that a Bouganvilla was it.  It's bright pink flowers are so vibrant and lively.  It was perfect.  We couldn't wait to plant it in our backyard.

It was a team project for sure.  The girls couldn't find their garden tools so they used our Pottery Barn flatware as shovels.  Hilarious.  They were so ready to help.

It's such a little plant right now but I know it will grow fast.  We think it looks awesome in our backyard.  We hope Maddie likes it too.

Fun at the park

We love to randomly stop by and visit Jessica and Jared. That's what we did twice this week and we made a pit stop at the neighborhood park.  The weather was awesome and the playground was the perfect size for all four kids to play on.  It made for a wonderful afternoon.

 

Homeboy fell flat on his face and that's a wood chip on the end of his nose.  He didn't seem to notice.

Jess brought strawberries to share.

Reese is really good at hiding.  Hide-n-seek is such a fun game for us right now.

"Hey!  I found you!"

I had a little helper....

when I went to work today.  I had to take photos of my new listing and little man tagged along with me.  We had lots of fun walking and playing in the greenbelt.

 He found some pine cones on the ground that seemed interesting.  So he thought he'd give them a taste.  His face below says it all.

It doesn't get much better....

than a clean house.  Not just picked up, I mean sparkling clean.  Our house was professionally cleaned yesterday and I am always floating on cloud nine when she's done.  Please admire these photos and how everything is perfectly in place.  It only lasts about 24 hours so I have to take photos to keep the memory alive.

The vacuum marks in the carpet and the perfectly made beds.  Be still my heart.

 The playroom with every toy put away (except for the two that little Munch has gotten out).  Don't worry, this room will be unraveled in about 5 minutes flat.

 Ryder's room looking so nice and sparkly clean.

Ahhhh, the vacuum marks again and clean sheets on our bed.  What could be better I ask you?  Now I do realize our bedroom decor needs a little spruce up.  I'm on the hunt for new bedding and drapes but can't seem to find anything I like.  In the meantime we're stuck with our awesome gold, red, brown, green, & tiger print decor.  Please don't judge.

Orangie and Yellow

Man, they love these blankets.  Ry's blanket is named Orangie and Ree's is Yellow.  We've been informed that the blankets are boys, as in, "I can't find Orangie.  Where is he?"  

These blankets go with us everywhere.  Yellow is stroller size and Reese uses him for snuggling and rubs the satin edge between her fingers.  Orangie is much larger, toddler bedding size to be exact.  He tends to get a bit dirtier because Ryan drapes him around her shoulders like a robe and drags him on the ground a lot.  

I have so many stories about our blankets.  We seriously have nine blankets total and they all have names.  There's Big Pinkie, Old Yellow, Greenie, Polka Dot Yellow, Baby Pinkies, & Ryder's blankee.  

There are two things I know for sure:

1) We are a blanket lovin' family.

2) Thumb sucking combined with blanket snuggling makes for some very happy little girls.

It seems that all is right with the world. 

Did you love the 80's?

I know I sure did.  I embraced it fully and rocked those mall bangs, side ponytails, and neon clothing.  It suited my personality--loud, vibrant, excessive.  I want someone to ask me what I was doing this day 21 years ago so I can tell them I was wearing the brightest neon outfit you've ever seen and posing on my old fireplace, getting ready to dance in the school talent show with my cousin and best friend.  We thought we were hot stuff for sure.  I can almost hear the Paula Abdul music playing right now.
These photos are pure blackmail but I feel comfortable posting them on the blog since there's only a handful of people that visit here.  Posting these on Facebook would be a different story.  Karen & Alexa would probably want to kill me. 

Alexa and I were inseparable at this age and we acted like we were twins, wearing matching outfits and doing our hair the same.  Those were some really fun, carefree days.  I have amazing memories of being a kid and it was fun that a chunk of it fell in the 80's so we can have some great laughs when we look back at our awesome wardrobe choices.

Persistence

This little guy really knows what he wants.  Right now it's going outside to play in the rain.

 I've already changed his clothes twice and he yells loud when we come inside.  He doesn't care that he's soaked to the bone and his extremities are freezing.  He just wants to play outside.

We found some SpiderMan rain boots in the closet and thought we'd give them a try.  They were two sizes to big, but we put them on anyway.

It was a good look for him. 

He really wanted to wear them.   

The attempt to walk in them was pure comedy.  Persistence, I tell ya.

 "I know I can do this."

 "Maybe if I stare at them long enough I can figure this out.  
Maybe then they'll stay on my feet."

 "Maybe my sister will help me out."

Up on a pedestal

Look who's the queen bee at our house these days.   Rightfully so.  We are giving her all the love and attention she deserves.  We know she misses little Maddie so much.  Muffin is such a wonderful dog and we've been letting her know every day how much we love her. 

Her favorite spot to rest is on top of the sofa cushion and it used to drive me batty.  I would shoo her off and fluff the pillow every 30 minutes.  Not anymore.  She can lay there all day long if she wants.  I've also been taking her with us wherever we go.  I can't stand the thought of her being home alone.  I know she's probably fine but it still breaks my heart.  The absence of Maddie is still so fresh, and if I feel it then I know she is feeling it too.  I hope that Muffin is around for a VERY long time.  She's such a sweet dog and we are so happy that we have her in our lives.

Matchy Match

 In the past year the girls have really started to come into their own and showcase the unique differences in their personalities.  A big part of that is expressing their individuality through what they choose to wear.  Ryan has a very distinct opinion about what she will wear on a daily basis (ie: yesterday they were supposed to wear something red to school and bring a red item for show and tell.  She did neither and found out the hard way what happens when you don't follow directions.)

Reese is a bit more relaxed about what she will wear and if I pick something out she will usually oblige and wear it.  It's rare that they wear the exact same outfit, so I was surprised when they came running out of their room yesterday looking completely identical.  They were having so much fun playing together and kept asking me to take photos.  

Our babysitter, Zoe, was coming over to play with the kids and the girls were scheming about how they were going to trick Zoe.  Ryan said, "We are twins and that means we look alike.  Zoe will NOT know who is who.  We will trick her."  Oh boy.  We are SO in trouble when they get to high school.  Here they are plotting out their schemes.

Spice cabinet

I'm still on my kick of cleaning out one cabinet at a time.  Most recently I did the spice cabinet.  Found some scary stuff.  It's a cabinet in our house that has a few items that get used all the time and the rest is rarely used.  I found some petrified marshmallows and chocolate bars in the back of the top shelf.  We intended to make S'mores a LONG time ago and never got around to it.  Perfectly good chocolate gone to waste.  Sigh.  If you haven't cleaned out your spice cabinet recently I highly recommend.  Here's the before & after:

Before

After--still looks crowded but I promise it's so much better.

Wonderful Wednesday

The weather is SO fantastic right now and we have been taking full advantage--going to parks, playing outdoors, visiting the zoo.  Today the girls had dance class and Karen & I have our regular routine of dropping the girls off at class and then walking over to the nearest Starbucks.  The boys usually sit in their strollers and eat snacks while we drink our coffee and soak up the warm sun.  Today we let them run loose in the grass nearby and they were so cute.

 Ready, set, go!

 Look at that hair!  It's outta control.

 He loves watching the cars drive by.  The big trucks are his favorite.